Meet the new office staff

The Plant Research Laboratory is excited to welcome three new members to our office staff team: Kelly Branigan, Geoffrey Grzesiak and Darlene Witman. These three are essential people who keep the PRL moving and grooving. 

Kelly Branigan 

Kelly Branigan is joining the office staff team as the new office assistant. In the mornings, she can be found at the front desk, ready to help with travel requests, shipping and placing orders for labs. She also helps the office staff in numerous ways, all while handling Federica’s crazy schedule. In the afternoons, Kelly is back in the lab. Kelly started at the PRL in 2023 in the Brandizzi lab, as Federica Brandizzi’s assistant and with general lab maintenance. 

“The Brandizzi lab is very big, so there's a lot of people,” Kelly said. “Everyone was very welcoming and nice, especially because I didn't come from a scientific background. I feel like people really stepped up to help me learn the ropes of the lab. I had to learn a lot of things, which was challenging, but also it kept it interesting.” 

Now in the front office, Kelly is meeting even more members of the PRL on a regular basis. She is most excited to help people plan their travel. 

“I like to see where people are going,” she shared. “I like to see what conferences people go to. Some people do much different work than the Brandizzi lab does, and I am interested to see what people are going and giving talks on or presenting at conferences.” 

Kelly graduated from Michigan State with a bachelor's degree in creative advertising and a minor in media photography in 2023. Photography is Kelly’s passion. She is a freelance photographer, who works with MSU Athletics and the Big Ten Network to cover a variety of sporting events, including football, basketball and gymnastics. She also helps with photography at the PRL, taking photos for labs and special events. 

In her free time, Kelly enjoys reading books and watching reality TV. She has set a goal of reading 50 books in the new year, and she reads a variety of genres from autobiography to science fiction. As a self-proclaimed “Bravo TV girl,” she is currently watching her way through Vanderpump Rules.  

Come visit Kelly in the front office in the mornings for all your travel and reality TV based needs. 

Geoffrey Grzesiak 

Meet Geoffrey Grzesiak, who offers a bright and cheery smile whenever you enter the office. Geoffrey first interacted with the PRL in 2008 working in the genomics core as an undergrad and attending many PRL functions, including the previous pizza Wednesdays. In early 2025, Geoffrey interviewed with Jianping Hu of the Molecular Plant Sciences program and PRL for the academic program coordinator position, and since May 1st he has made a welcome addition to the staff. 

When asked how his experience has been since joining, he answered, “It’s a great community. There’s lots of jobs where you’ve got someone who’s grumpy that you don’t want to work with, but everyone is fantastic… I don’t come from a plant background, and everyone’s been able to explain research to my level, which is very helpful because I still love research as a whole.” 

Some of the day-to-day responsibilities that Geoffrey attends include shipping, food ordering for events, managing four excellent undergrads, and lots of purchasing for everyday items. Geoffrey also oversees the purchasing agreements for any long-term contracts the PRL has with vendors. 

Research has always been a favorite of Geoffrey’s, working in different labs since 2010 before eventually winding up in the PRL office. Despite the new surroundings, he is still working in research support, which he is quite thankful for. When he was first getting started, Geoffrey was in genomics, later working with mosquitoes, ticks, and human reproduction research.  

He recalled a favorite memory when doing rodent fieldwork in Dr. Tsao’s lab, mentioning how: 
“We were camping for weeks at a time, trapping live rodents, pulling the ticks off them, and then releasing them where we found them.” 

Before coming into the office, Geoffrey is always looking forward to seeing everybody, emphasizing how great the group of people he gets to work with is. Outside of work, Geoffrey can be found building models and Legos, cooking delicious food, and otherwise just finding ways to keep busy. 

Darlene Witman 

Darlene Witman joined us last October and has already proved to be an indispensable team member. She was looking for a new opportunity on campus when she found the PRL, and ever since, she has been hard at work learning the ropes. Darlene majored in Human Resources, working various jobs outside of MSU in HR for about ten years. 

“I started over in IT services for nine years as their HR manager and then went to pharmacology and toxicology for three years and was their HR manager/business manager… and then I was recently the HR manager for culinary services here at MSU for four years,” Darlene said. 

A typical day for Darlene varies between completing reappointments, pulling reports for data, and putting in receipts for events, with much more happening behind the scenes. Some other challenges she has faced include remembering the acronyms and vocabulary used in each area of industry across campus. Another challenge she has faced so far during her time here at the PRL is the financial system. 

“I’m very familiar with HR and the HR systems that we have here on campus, but I’ve worked very little in the financial system, so I’m just trying to pick up on that as a new challenge.” 

Outside of work, Darlene is a big fan of travel. She has traveled across the globe to all sorts of fascinating locales, visiting countries both inland and surrounded by sea. She has previously lived coast-to-coast, in Japan, and in Germany, rounding out an extensive list of destinations seen with her own eyes. 

“One of the things I like about traveling is you can read about something, or you can see a video about something, but it’s totally different when you get there because you can smell it, feel it – the environment, the noise.” 

Stop by the office and say hello to any or all of these new friendly faces. They'll be happy to see you.