Recognizing Plant Physiology authors: Danielle Young

Danielle Young, first author of Large fluxes of fatty acids from membranes to triacylglycerol and back during N-deprivation and recovery in Chlamydomonas

Current Position: PhD Candidate at Michigan State University

Education: B.S. in Plant Biology and Biochemistry, North Carolina State University

Non-scientific Interests: board games, hiking, baking

Brief bio: During my undergraduate studies, I became very excited by the potential of microalgae as biofuel feedstocks and thus a source of renewable energy. I explored this interest as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Heike Sederoff’s lab at NC State University, studying the impact of supplementing the alga Dunaliella viridis’s growth with amino acids as an alternative nitrogen source. I began my graduate studies at Michigan State University in 2016 and became very interested in how algae synthesize triacylglycerol, and gained experience using isotopic labeling to trace the fluxes leading to triacylglycerol accumulation during nitrogen deprivation. I look forward to addressing additional lipid-related questions in Chlamydomonas as I complete my PhD in the next year, and I plan on applying for postdoctoral positions related to algal metabolism in the near future.