Recognizing Plant Cell authors: Emily R. Larson
Emily R. Larson, co-first author of Synergy among exocyst and SNARE interactions identifies a functional hierarchy in secretion during vegetative growth
Current Position: Senior research associate, School of Life Sciences, University of Bristol
Education: PhD: University of Vermont, Burlington VT USA; BA: Bennington College, Bennington, VT USA
Non-scientific Interests: reading, cooking, travel
Brief bio: During a class on endomembrane topology, I got hooked on understanding the mechanisms and machinery of vesicle trafficking, and how they are coordinated to support cell growth. A tale as old as time, right? I had worked in the biomedical field at MIT and the University of Washington, but found that a plant model system was excellent for studying cell biology and vesicle trafficking during graduate school at UVM. I continued my research with Prof. Mike Blatt at Glasgow University as a postdoc, focusing on how endo- and exocytic trafficking are coordinated to support cell function. I am now a senior researcher in Prof. Claire Grierson’s lab at the University of Bristol. I am interested in how vesicle trafficking machinery helps coordinate polarized growth in root hairs and how this coordination regulates interactions between plants and their environment.
