Bryan Leong: Plant Physiology First Author

Bryan Leong, co-first author of “Respiratory energy demands and scope for demand expansion and destruction”

Current position: NSF post-doctoral fellow in Horticultural Sciences at University of Florida in Andrew Hanson lab

Education: Ph.D. in Plant Biology, Michigan State University

Non-scientific interests: Reading, camping, brewing, and martial arts

Brief bio: I have always been interested in metabolism and biochemistry, but it took until senior year in my undergraduate studies to realize that plants were far better chemists than other organisms. After my Ph.D., I was interested in using synthetic biology to improve plants, which led me to join the Hanson lab. I currently use continuous directed evolution to improve plant enzymes and re-engineer them back into plants.