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An image of Taylor Beaulie (masked and gloved) underneath an orange tree. Next to her is a plastic container with a measuring tape, spray bottle, clipboard, and test tubes in a rack to collect samples.

URM Plant Scientist Highlights - Taylor Beaulieu (she/her)

Taylor Beaulieu (she/her) is currently a third year graduate student at UC-Riverside (UCR). She received her BS in Plant Biology from UCR and also received a minor in Education. She originally spent her undergraduate education training to become a K-12 science teacher which gave her training experience…

URM Plant Scientist Highlights - Dawn Nagel (she/her)

Dawn Nagel (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genomics in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UC Riverside. She has been a faculty member at UCR since 2016. Dawn was born and raised in Guyana as the youngest of three children. As an undergraduate, she studied general biology…
Headshot of Thelma Madzima. In the background are a series of pipette tip boxes and a mini vortexer.

URM Plant Scientist Highlights - Thelma Madzima (she/her)

Dr. Thelma Madzima (she/her) is one of very few Black faculty in the USA who are plant molecular biologists. Originally from Zimbabwe, Thelma immigrated to the US at the age of 17 to attend college. She received her B.S. in Plant Science and Plant Biotechnology from Fort Valley State University, a historically…
Manuel and his grandfather, Antonio Mora who continues to farm and tend his crops every day, except for Sundays which he reserves for family and church. This image was taken during a hike we shared in Santiago Tangamandapio Michoacan during December 2019, where he took Manuel to share the site and tree where his own grandfather passed.

URM Plant Scientist Highlights - Manuel Mora (he/him)

Manuel Mora (he/him) is a doctoral student in the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Developmental Program (MBIDP)  at UCLA. Born in Santa Ana, CA, Manuel was raised between California and the town of Santiago Tangamandapio in Michoacan, Mexico. Growing up he enjoyed playing soccer, but when living…

Plant Scientist Highlight: Barbara McClintock

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Barbara McClintock was born on June 16th, 1902 in Hartford, Connecticut, and was raised in Brooklyn, NY. She was one of four children of Sara and Thomas McClintock. She received her bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees from Cornell, completing her education in 1927. She defied norms at the time…

Plant Scientist Highlight: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This month’s plant scientist highlight is Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Goethe isn’t typically through of as a plant scientist, primarily being known for his literary works, but he greatly contributed to the systematic characterization of plants and the idea of homology. Johann grew up as the son…

Getting to the Root: A Conversation with Prof. Malcolm Bennett, FRS

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Amongst the momentous dates in the calendar of a scientist, the announcement of new fellows of The Royal Society of London will always have a special place. Founded in the year 1660, this oldest surviving scientific institution embodies the spirit of natural sciences and features some of the beacons…

Plant Scientist Highlight: Caroline Dean

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A series by Alyssa Preiser Why did you decide to pursue science as you went through college, and what got you particularly interested in epigenetics and plant developmental transitions? I loved the documentaries of the marine biologist Jacques Cousteau so I chose to study marine biology at…

Plant Scientist Highlight: Sue Hartley

A series by Alyssa Preiser Why did you decide to pursue science as you went through college, and what got you particularly interested in plant defense and plant/organism interactions? I was always interested in science. It started as a young kid when I used to collect natural history - animal skulls,…