Andy Simkin worked on the RIPE project as a senior research officer at the University of Essex where he focused on improving leaf photosynthetic carbon metabolism by the over-expression of specific enzymes of the Calvin-Benson cycle. Andy received his bachelor's degree in microbiology and his master's degree in industrial biotechnology from Liverpool John Moores University. He went on to earn his doctorate in molecular biology at the Universite Joseph Fourier. His work is published in The Plant Journal, Journal of Experimental Botany, and Plant Methods.