By Conviron Scholar Sessen Daniel Increasing world population, climate change, natural resources degradation and loss of biodiversity are critical challenges that are undermining food security and raising serious concerns over the resilience of our agricultural system. Will current agriculture, relying on just four crops to provide two-thirds of the global food supply, be able to […]
By Xiang Li, ASPB Conviron Scholar As part of the Conviron Scholar Program, each scholar is matched to one mentor based on their research interests. I was matched to Dr. Clayton Larue. Dr. Larue is a scientist leader at Bayer Crop Science. He has been working on discovering and developing novel herbicide tolerance traits over […]
By Jennifer Ruston, ASPB Conviron Scholar Why do we have lawns? The American dream in the 1950’s—a suburban home, 2 children, a white picket fence and a lawn. A lawn with crisp lines indicating the latest mowing pattern. A lawn the perfect shade of green. A lawn that has been catered to and cared for. […]
A short video about some of the components of graduate school in plant biology by ASPB Conviron Scholar Haley Carter
ASPB Conviron Scholars Presentation by Nikolaos Ntelkis
Could orphan crops be the key to address food insecurity, climate change and biodiversity loss? Find out in this presentation by ASPB Conviron Scholar Sessen Daniel Iohannes
ASPB Conviron Scholar Research Presentation by Mathieu Ayenan
ASPB Conviron Scholars Presentation Created by Godwin James
ASPB Conviron Scholar Presentation by Prisca Meyer
This is a video aimed at raising awareness for the importance of phosphorous use in agriculture, as well as current problems in this area and a proposed solution. Created by ASPB Conviron Scholar Aya Bridgeland
ASPB Conviron Scholar Presentation by Rostislav Blume Here is my short video about plant breeding advancement. It is made for wide audience, so, I think, most plant scientists here may already know all this information. I believe, this video should be good for all age categories. Let me know, what do you think about it! […]
ASPB Conviron Scholars Research Presentation by Carolina Ballén-Taborda
The United Nations determined that 2020 would be the International Year of Plant Health and here is a link to ASPB Conviron Scholar Jen Rushton’s science communication video spreading that awareness!
A short video for kids and laypeople about how plants defend themselves from hungry bugs and invaders. Created by ASPB Conviron Scholar Marlo Hall.
This is a brief and basic introduction of some plant growing matters for beginners created by ASPB Conviron Scholar You-Wun Huang. Enjoy!
Informational Interview by Samantha Snodgrass, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2020 Margaret Woodhouse is a computational biologist and sequence curator at the Maize Genetics and Genomics Database, MaizeGDB, which is a part of the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA. We talked about her journey to her current position, what work as a MaizeGDB curator is like in […]
Ever wonder what a hybrid is? Or why we use hybrids in agriculture? This video answers these questions and dives into the current ways researchers are using new DNA and RNA sequencing to further understand why hybrids are a-maize-ing. Check out this ASPB Conviron Scholars Presentation by Samantha Snodgrass
By Xiang Li, Conviron Scholar. The assignment was to develop a lesson for school students. Our team (Xiang Li, Haley Carter, Nikolaos Ntelkis and Samantha Snodgrass) prepared the materials for a class of plant domestication designed for upper high school students. We aim to help students understand the process of evolutionary selection through plant domestication. […]
Informational Interview by Godwin James, ASPB Conviron Scholar I had a great opportunity to interview Dr. Mahaletchumy Arujanan and listen to her passion for science communication. Dr. Maha Arujanan is the global coordinator of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and also the executive director of the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC). Dr. Arujanan holds […]
Informational Interview by Marlo Hall, ASPB Conviron Scholar Please Introduce yourself and give us a sense of your career path. I’m LaKisha Odom, scientific program director for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). We are a nonprofit organization, created in 2014, and our overall purpose is to increase the amount of funding for […]
Informational Interview by Presca Meyer, ASPB Conviron Scholar Wannes Voorend works as a R & D Coordinator in Energy, Environment and Biotech at Colruyt Group. Colruyt Group was founded 1928 by Franz Colruyt and lists more than 30,000 employees by today. The company is managing supermarket retail stores and further subsidiaries. They are operating mainly in Belgium, […]
Informational Interview by Aya Bridgeland, ASPB Conviron Scholar Dr. A. Peyton Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University. Dr. Smith studies soil organic matter and microbiome characterization and how they interact with soil physical properties to impact the flux of soil carbon. She is originally from […]
Informational Interview by Jennifer Rushton, ASPB Conviron Scholar How did you get involved in a career in plant science? Background “I always knew I liked plants, but I was never a plant lover. I grew up in the city but got the chance to visit my grandmother is a rural area and always thought agriculture […]
Informational Interview by Conviron Scholar Sessen Daniel. Michele Morgante is a plant geneticist, currently full professor of genetics at the University of Udine, Scientific Director of the Institute of Applied Genomics (IGA) and former president of the Italian Society of Plant Genetics (SIGA). His career spanned across several fields, from the academic setting at University of Udine to the industry domain at DowDuPont™ Agriculture Division (now Corteva […]
By Xiang Li, ASPB Conviron Scholar Mary William is a developer of Teaching Tools in Plant Biology and a Features Editor of the journals The Plant Celland Plant Physiology. After obtaining her Ph.D. at Rockefeller University and doing a postdoc at Berkeley, she spent 14 years as a Biology Professor at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. […]
Informational Interview by Rostislav Blume, ASPB Conviron Scholar I had honor to interview Prof. William Vance Baird, who is recently Chair at Department of Horticulture in Michigan State University. I had pleasure to meet Prof. Baird personally some time ago, so I asked him to share his thoughts on questions that you can check below. […]
Informational Interview by You-Wun Huang, ASPB Conviron Scholar Sheng-Chieh Wu is a Teaching Assistant of the Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University (NTU), who is always passionate during his teaching. He earned his M.S. degree in NTU but struggled during his Ph.D., eventually chosen an alternative path for his career. I believe his story […]
Informational Interview by Haley Carter, ASPB Conviron Scholar I had the pleasure of interviewing Katherine Andrews, who is the Director of Cultivation, Standards and Practices at Cresco Labs. Andrews is an alumna of the Plant Biology and Conservation Graduate Program at Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden where she completed a Master’s thesis entitled Precipitation frequency […]
Informational interview by Mathieu Ayenan, ASPB Conviron Scholar Can you please introduce yourself? I am Anoma Lokossou. I hold a Master degree in Biotechnology and Bioengineering from Université de Toulouse in France and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from the University of Wageningen. For my Ph.D. I cloned resistance genes to Phytophthora infestans in potato. I did […]
I had the honor to interview Dr. Sofía Brandariz from Bayer Crop Science. She is originally from Uruguay, where she did her undergrad and masters and then moved to the US to complete her PhD degree under Dr Bernardo at UMN. Then, she transitioned from PhD directly to her current job at Bayer. There she […]
Informational Interview by Nikolaos Ntelkis, ASPB Conviron Scholar For this assignment, I had the opportunity to talk with Peter Clark, Senior Policy Analyst at Callaghan Innovation, which is New Zealand’s governmental innovation agency. After completing a BSc and MSc in New Zealand, Peter earned his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from University of Oxford. Then, he moved […]
Congratulations to the 2020 class of the ASPB Conviron Scholars Program. These scholars were selected from a strong competitive group of applicants. Read more about each awardee. Special thanks to Conviron for making this program possible through their financial support. Modesta Abugu, University of Florida, USA Mathieu Ayenan, University of Ghana, Ghana Carolina Ballén-Taborda, University of Georgia, USA Rostyslav […]
Informational Interview by Zanele Mthembu, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2020 Plantae Community · Informational Interview with Prof Jens Kossmann, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
ASPB Conviron Research Presentation by Will Hinckley
ASPB Conviron Research Presentation by Timothy Burnette
ASPB Conviron Research Presentation by Christina Finegan
ASPB Conviron Research Presentation created by Bryony Yates
ASPB Conviron Independent Project created by Yanniv Dorone
ASPB Conviron Independent Project 2018-2019 Created by Aimee Schulz For my independent project, I decided to create an accessible and easily modified lesson plan that teachers can use to incorporate plant domestication into their current curriculum. After talking with my high school teachers, I wanted to make sure that the material could be easily adapted […]
ASPB Conviron Research Presentation by Christina Finegan
Hello everyone! Here is my independent project. I created a website that explained different aspects of the plant world in an accessible way. I collaborated with a non-majors Plant Ecology class to ensure that I did not unknowingly use any jargon they were not familiar with and to make sure I explained concepts clearly. I hope you enjoy! […]
ASPB Conviron Independent Project – Created by Andrew Egesa (a). Why climate change? The 21st century has witnessed a rapid increase in climate change drivers, comprising of industrial development and other activities associated with rising human population. As a result, climate change related challenges have become unprecedented and may have huge potential to promote variation in […]
ASPB Conviron Independent Project created by Will Hinckley I made a series of infographics describing GMO safety for a general audience. I worked along with my PI and labmates and got several people to read them to make sure that everything was carefully worded to make sense to a general audience. Enjoy!
Research Presentation submitted by Alex Clarke as part of the ASPB Conviron Scholars Program
ASPB Conviron Scholars: Final Project, by Tim Burnette Water is a central piece to humanity’s past, present, and future life. It is essential to our survival, and we are not alone in this necessity: plants need water too. With limited water, plants cannot grow and develop, and may not even survive. But recent research has […]
For my Conviron Scholars independent project Bryony Yates created a guide that details the instructions for two interactive plant science demonstrations that can be delivered as part of a science outreach event. They could be presented as part of a public event or taken into schools and require only a table and a few easy-to-obtain […]
Independent Project Created by Samantha Connolly as part of the ASPB Conviron Scholars Program Python is an incredibly useful programming language, especially for data visualization. Here, I will (1) show you how to download an Integrated Development Environment, (2) show you the basics of loops, if statements, and programming logic, (3) show you how to […]
Post by Angel Vergara Cruces For my ASPB Conviron Scholars independent project, I wanted to use Twitter to spread plant sciences. I was hoping the way Twitter works could allow me to reach a wider audience. I especially wanted to introduce plant sciences to undergraduate students in the life sciences, who may in principle not […]
ASPB Conviron Scholars Independent Project by Mallory Cullen For my independent project, I wanted to make a plant science lesson for young elementary school children. I made a video that provides a basic overview of photosynthesis as well as two experiments that can be conducted to illustrate photosynthesis. I really enjoyed making the parts of […]
by Jen Schmidt, ASPB Conviron Scholar Just about anyone who visits an ocean beach considers the risk of shark attack. Images from movies and the news create the perception that sharks are a significant threat, and none of us are safe. However, the shark’s body count is nothing compared to the tiny mosquitos that carry […]
Alex Clarke Conviron Scholars 2019 Final Project I was interested in the opinions of professors and researchers on the current state of the field of plant virology, including the future directions it may take and the most important technologies in the field. I also wished to learn what system they work on and how they […]
As part of the 2018-2019 Conviron Scholars program, Laura Klasek recorded a short oral presentation on her current research project.
Written by Laura Klasek as part of the ASPB Conviron Scholars Program “This is my favorite part of the research,” said the graduate student supervising my first rotation, “Because right now, anything is possible: the experiment worked, didn’t work, did something unexpected…” We stood in pitch-blackness in the darkroom while film developer rattled, about to […]
Presentation created by Jen Schmidt as part of the ASPB Conviron Scholars Program PowerPoint Presentation Link
Created by Mishi Vachev as part of the ASPB Conviron Scholars Program From Farm to Fork
ASPB Conviron Scholars Independent Project Nitrogen (N) is one of the important plant nutrients required for growth and development. Nitrogen makes up the genetic backbone and is assimilated into numerous different proteins. Plants take up N in two forms: nitrate and ammonium. Nitrate is the predominant form of N taken up by plants, and […]
ASPB Conviron Scholars Project by Susana Perez Martinez
ASPB Conviron Scholars Program Independent Project by Bryce Askey
ASPB Conviron Scholars Presentation by Daisy Dobrijevic
Created by Ruth (Jean Ae) Kim as part of the ASPB Conviron Scholars Program For my independent project, I decided to make a series of comics about a character called Plant Girl. I am hoping this makes plant biology accessible for young children to young adults in a fun way! The first chapter is about […]
Catherine Freed’s final project for the ASPB Conviron Scholars Program
ASPB Conviron Scholar Independent Project Created by Jen Schmidt As a way to combine my love of plants and writing, I started an informal blog called Everything Orchids. Most of my blog posts cover practical tips for raising orchids as well as interesting plant biology facts. I also cover some orchid outreach events as well […]
ASPB Conviron Scholars Independent Project by Daisy Dobrijevic in conjunction with the National Space Centre (UK) For my independent project I had a lot of fun working in conjunction with the National Space Centre. On the subject of plants in space, we produced a video, info graphic and a blog post for the general public (see below). […]
ASPB Conviron Scholars Research Presentation by Bryce Askley
ASPB Conviron Scholar Research Presentation by Susana Perez Martinez
By Bret Hart, Conviron Scholar I interviewed Dr. David Parrott, Ph.D. He is currently at Westminster University, but earned his Ph.D. in Plant Science at Utah State University after a B.S. in Botany and an M.A. in Biology from Humboldt State University. He is focused on teaching undergraduates at his current institution but has experience […]
By Christopher Sorich, Conviron Scholar Dr. Christopher Jones is professor and chair of the Biology department at Moravian College located in Bethlehem, PA. He is interested in many aspects of molecular genetics, but his research focuses primarily on the genetics of behavior in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, especially learning and memory as well as seizure disorders. […]
By Tim Burnette, Conviron Scholar
By Yanniv Dorone, Conviron Scholar Dr. Shouling Xu is a mass spectrometrist and a biologist in the Department of Plant Biology at Carnegie Institution of Science. She obtained her PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she worked in Joe Kieber’s lab. After this, she did a postdoc in Zhiyong Wang’s […]
By Catherine Freed, Conviron Scholar Hello everyone! I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Mary Williams. Mary is a features editor of Teaching Tools in Plant Biology for Plant Cell as well as a Plantae community manager. She got her PhD in Plant Molecular Biology from Rockfeller University and did a Postdoc at the University of California-Berkeley. […]
By Jaclyn Noshay, Conviron Scholar Interviewer: Jaclyn Noshay Interviewee: Dr. Amanda Waters Date: November 7, 2018 Dr. Amanda Waters is currently a Crop Bioinformatician in the Agro-Discovery team of PepsiCo. After beginning her undergraduate degree as a pre-med biology student, she began to do research in Dr. Nathan Springer’s maize genomics lab where she discovered […]
By Jonathan Lombardino, Conviron Scholar Perhaps for some of you the looming prospect of where your career as a research scientist will take you has been a daunting and stressful thought-process. Lucky for us, I have enlisted the help of Dr. Miguel Vega-Sanchez, a scientist whose diverse career path has given him a unique perspective […]
By John Tran, Conviron Scholar Interviewer: John Tran, PhD Candidate in Plant Biology at MSU Interviewee: Kevin Tran (Process Development Associate) Masters – Biology in Stem Cell Research B.S. – Biology in System Physiology Academic meets Industry John Tran sits down with Process Development Associate, Kevin Tran, who is working at the crossroads of start-up, biotech, and industry in […]
By Carl Branch, Conviron Scholar Dr. Shah, currently the head of the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association, has been involved in plant sciences and agriculture in a variety of roles all across the country. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit as a student in a seed science class this fall, and I think he […]
By Shealyn Malone, Conviron Scholar
By Jen Schmidt, Conviron Scholar Name: Matthew Ross Position:Director, Continuing Education at Longwood Gardens Degrees: Bachelor of Science, Horticulture Science, Master of Science, Horticulture Science I had the opportunity to interview Matthew Ross, the Director of Continuing Education at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Longwood Gardens provides a number of informal educational courses every […]
By Ángel Vergara Cruces, Conviron Scholar I interviewed Dr Eloy Caballo Ponce, technician in the phytopathology department at the seed company Rijk Zwaan. During our conversation, we talked about academia, industry and career paths for life science graduates. The first thing I wanted to ask you is to summarise your career path: how did you […]
By Matthew Fabian, Conviron Scholar 1. Please describe your path to a career in plant science, from undergraduate (or earlier) studies to your current role. What are some particular challenges, experiences, or milestones that you’d care to share? After one course correction in my undergraduate college journey at the University of Michigan, I thought I […]
By Yen Ning Chai, Conviron Scholar Dr. Chia Sin Liew is a bioinformatician working for the bioinformatics core facility at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Her jobs include maintaining the computing servers and providing bioinformatics services to the researchers at UNL. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Biology, subsequently finished her Ph.D. in […]
By Alex Clarke, Conviron Scholar Background Robert did his undergraduate at SUNY Cortland before moving to California to work as a technician in molecular biology. He pursued a Master’s degree at Fresno State, where he worked with C. elegans and performed plant transformations with nematode genes. After deciding he wanted to pursue plant improvement, Robert […]
By Kate Harline, Conviron Scholar Dr. Nice has a PhD in plant breeding from Cornell University and works at a small plant breeding company.
By Bryony Yates, Conviron Scholar
By Aleah Henderson-Carter, Conviron Scholar Alex Erwin is a recent graduate from the University of Kansas Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department. She is now a member of staff at BioKansas, a bioscience networking organization which represents a variety of biotechnology companies and academic institutions across the state of Kansas. Alex is the director of the Talent Development & STEMM Education department. Me: What […]
By Hannah Thomas, Conviron Scholar Current position: Post-doc research associate at Kenyon College in Ohio. This position is unique in that it has a strong teaching and mentorship emphasis. She teaching 1 class every semester and mentors 5-6 undergraduate students in the lab. A typical workday: Because Kenyon College is a PUI, her time is […]
By Heidi Wipf, Conviron Scholar Dr. Claire L. Bendix is a patent agent for the Intellectual Property group at Morrison & Foerster LLP. Since beginning her career in IP as a scientific analyst in 2017, Dr. Bendix finds the work to be continually engaging, the work environment to be supportive, and enjoys the opportunities to […]
By Daisy Dobrijevic, Conviron Scholar
Informational Interview by Yen Ning Chai, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2018 Dr. Chia Sin Liew is a bioinformatician working for the bioinformatics core facility at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Her jobs include maintaining the computing servers and providing bioinformatics services to the researchers at UNL. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Biology, subsequently […]
Informational Interview by Jaclyn Noshay, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2018 Dr. Amanda Waters is currently a Crop Bioinformatician in the Agro-Discovery team of PepsiCo. After beginning her undergraduate degree as a pre-med biology student, she began to do research in Dr. Nathan Springer’s maize genomics lab where she discovered her joy for plant biology. She later […]
Informational Interview by Tatyana Soto, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2020 Hope you enjoy my interview with Dr. Lisa Urry. I made it into a graphic just to make it more animated and engaging but this meant I had to condense some information. If you want to hear the inspiring story of her parents being first gen […]
Informational Interview by Ally Weir, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2018 Dr. Joshua Der is an assistant professor at California State University Fullerton. He is also the curator of the MacFadden Herbarium at CSUF, as well as a research associate at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. AT CSUF he studies the evolution of plant biodiversity and […]
Informational Interview by Hillary Fischer, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2020 I recently had the pleasure to sit down with Dr. Christine Foyer, a professor at the University of Leeds in the Centre for Plant Science were her research lab focuses on the impact of stress on the growth and development of the plant, specifically in regard […]
Informational Interview by Will Hinckley, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2020 1. You began your education in Canada, but then continued it in the US. What are some of the differences in research culture you noticed while making that transition? I don’t think that there were significant differences in research culture between Canada and the U.S. back […]
Informational Interview by Ruth (Jean Ae) Kim, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2020 Dr. Robert Jinkerson is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Riverside in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Department of Botany and Plant Sciences. He is one of the most interdisciplinary researchers on paper you have seen. He obtained his […]
Informational Interview by Susana Perez Martine, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2020 I interviewed Dr. Elliot Meyerowitz who is the George Beadle Professor of Biology, and a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at the California Institute of Technology, where he has been on the faculty since 1980. Prior to joining the Caltech faculty he obtained an undergraduate degree […]
Informational Interview by Laura Ortega, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2018 Title: Dr. Leandro Mozzoni Associate Professor, Soybean breeding University of Arkansas I chose Dr. Mozzoni as my interviewee because I was looking for someone like himself who has had industry experience and has recently switched over to academia. As someone who is undecided between these two sectors, […]
Informational Interview by Aimee Schulz, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2018 Dr. Nason is a professor and department chair at Iowa State University. His lab studies the evolutionary relationships and population genetics of figs and fig wasps, and is also interested in the factors influencing gene flow and the resulting impacts on the genetic structure of both […]
Informational Interview by Bryce Askey, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2018 Interviewee: Dr. C. Eduardo Vallejos Interviewer: Bryce Askey Date: November 13th, 2018 Dr. Vallejos is a professor in horticultural science at the University of Florida. I spoke with him about his career path, responsibilities as a professor, and general thoughts regarding his work. A summarized version of our conversation is below. Can you […]
Informational Interview by Seth O’Conner, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2018 Dr. Eve Wurtele is a professor in the GDCB department at Iowa State University. Her Bio is taken from her GDCB webpage (https://www.gdcb.iastate.edu/p…). I was fortunate enough to do a research rotation in Dr. Wurtele’s lab while I was at Iowa State, where my interest in […]
Informational Interview by Stuti Shrivastava, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2020 Prof. Raymond E Zielinski is an emeritus professor with the department of plant biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He did his Ph.D. from Rutgers University and then pursued his post-doctorate from the University of Maryland. Prof. Zielinski has been at UIUC since 1984. He is interested in studying […]
By Mallory Cullen, Conviron Scholar What is your current job and what does it entail? My current job is a molecular biology research associate at the University of Idaho. My job involves management of a potato molecular biology program. My job includes mentoring, everyday work at the bench, management such as purchasing orders, budgeting, and […]
By Samantha Connolly, Conviron Scholar Emily Millar is a biology laboratory technician. Emily works in a USDA carrot breeding lab at the University of Wisconsin, Madison on two main projects: breeding carrots for higher pigment color and breeding carrots for higher salt tolerance. This is Emily’s first job since graduating from the University of Vermont […]
Informational Interview by Iwuala Emmanuel, ASPB Conviron Scholar 2018 Plantae Community · Informational Interview with Iwuala Emmanuel, Federal University Oye-Ekiti , Nigeria
By Mishi Vachev, Conviron Scholar Jason Cavatorta is the owner of his own plant breeding and seed distribution company, Earthworks Seeds, in Orlando, FL. His seed is mainly marketed to home-growers and is often heirloom varieties of tomatoes, peppers, melons, and many more crops. He started his own company after working on onion development at […]