Joanna wins undergrad research award

Congratulations to ShadeLab MMG BS/MS student Joanna Colovas on winning the Richard M. and Susan S. Van Frank Undergraduate Research Fund Award!

Joanna's research investigates how abiotic stress leads to seed microbiome modification, and aims to track which seed members may originate from different plant compartments, specifically the root tissue. In addition, she has been developing an in-house mock community of bacteria and yeast to use as a positive DNA extraction and sequencing control. She works with MMG Ph.D. student Abby Sulesky-Grieb and CSS Ph.D. student Fina Bintarti to set up and execute growth chamber experiments with common bean plants that are exposed to different stresses.

Congratulations Joanna! Well deserved!

Above: Joanna prepares planters in the greenhouse for an upcoming plant microbiome experiment.