Recognizing Plant Cell authors: Mike Muszynski

Mike Muszynski, first author of The Maize Hairy Sheath Frayed1 (Hsf1) Mutation Alters Leaf Patterning Through Increased Cytokinin Signaling

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaiʻi – Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, USA

Education: Ph.D. in Genetics, Iowa State University

Non-scientific Interests:  travel, cooking, snorkeling, cats

Brief bio:  I have been working on understanding the molecular mechanisms of different plant processes for 25+ years.  I was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the lab of Karen Cone working on mechanisms of plant epigenetic regulation.  Afterwards, I moved to industry, working on various projects – flowering time, drought sensing and response, developmental mechanisms of yield components – at Pioneer HiBred (now Corteva) and Syngenta Seeds for 10+ years.  I then made the decision to move back to academia and was fortunate to find a position at Iowa State University and later moved to my present position at the University of Hawaiʻi – Mānoa.  In my lab we work on understanding the mechanisms which influence plant growth and developmental processes using maize as our model system.