Recent Posts

Taproot S6E5: Transforming Plants and the Culture of Publishing

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In this episode, we speak with Yunde Zhao, a Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California San Diego. Yunde earned his Bachelors in Biochemistry from East China University of Science and Technology, received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan, and did…

Taproot S6E4: Can We Force Academic Structures to be Inclusive?

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In this episode, we speak with Jason Williams, Assistant Director of Inclusion and Research Readiness at the DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Jason is also lead for CyVerse Education, Outreach, and Training – the U.S. National Cyberinfrastructure for Life Science. Jason received…

Taproot S6E3: Classroom Cosplay: Applying Creative and Scientific Approaches to Teaching

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In this episode, we speak with Jennifer Robison, an Assistant Professor of Biology at Manchester University in Indiana. Jennifer received her Bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College, her Master’s degree from the University of Delaware and her PhD from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.…

Taproot S6E2: The Tension Between Robustness and Efficiency in Biological and Human Systems

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In this episode, our guest is Olivier Hamant. Olivier is a PI at INRAE in the Plant Reproduction and Development laboratory in Lyon, France. Olivier did his PhD on KNOX homeobox genes in 2003, and then postdocs in Berkeley with Zac Cande and with Jan Traas in Lyon. He took his current position at INRAE…

Taproot S6E1: May I Have Your Attention, Please? Searching for Causal Mutations and for Institutional Support

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In this episode, our guest is Dior Kelley, an assistant professor in the Genetics, Development and Cell Biology department at Iowa State University. Dior received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2000, and her Ph.D. in Plant Biology from the University of California…

Taproot S5E5: STARTing out as a PI, Pivoting During COVID, and Advocating for Change

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In this episode, our guest is Aman Husbands. Aman is originally from Canada and got his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto. After completing his PhD at the University of California Riverside, he moved to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories. In 2018, he moved to The Department of Molecular…
Kevin Cox

Taproot S5E4: Interacting with Plants, Pathogens, and the Public

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This week’s podcast is a conversation with Dr. Kevin Cox. Kevin earned his PhD at Texas A&M University before returning to his hometown of St Louis, Missouri to do a postdoc with Blake Meyers at The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Kevin has won numerous awards and grants and was recently…

Taproot S5E3: Pre-Stressed Conditions: Epigenetics and Life as a Black Academic

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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Thelma Madzima, Assistant Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Washington, Bothell. A native of Zimbabwe, she received her Ph.D. in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Florida and went on to complete a postdoc with Karen…

Taproot S5E2: Multiculturalism Matters in the Rhizosphere--and in Academia

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This week’s podcast is a conversation with Dr. Adán Colón-Carmona, Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Adán received his PhD from University of California, Irvine and he did postdoctoral research at the Salk Institute and at the University of California, Davis. His research…