Stacy A. Anderson: The Plant Cell First Author

Stacy A. Anderson, first author of “A homolog of Guided Entry of Tail-anchored proteins3 functions in membrane-specific protein targeting in chloroplasts of Arabidopsis”

Current Position: Scientist – Roche Sequencing Solutions

Education: BS (Western Washington University), PhD (University of Wisconsin – Madison)

 

Non-scientific Interests:  Hiking and gardening in the Pacific Northwest

Brief bio:

I was introduced to plant cell biology as an undergraduate research assistant with Dr. Jeff Young at Western Washington University. This project involved genetically dissecting pathogen resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds by testing Aspergillus growth on various mutants in the PAL pathway. During this experience, I realized how relevant, fun, and interesting studying plant cell biology can be and decided to pursue a related PhD.

For my graduate work, I worked with Dr. Donna Fernandez at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying protein targeting and transport in chloroplasts. Plant cell biology is endlessly fascinating, and I was particularly intrigued by the chloroplast: mixing the bacterial origin of the organelle with the eukaryotic environment of the plant cell provided for some very interesting research questions. My thesis focused on characterizing GET3B (the topic of this paper) as well as the differential targeting of small, tail-anchored proteins to different chloroplast membranes.

Currently, I work as a Protein Engineering Scientist for Roche Sequencing Solutions.