Daipayan Sarkar is a postdoctoral researcher from the Vermaas lab, where his research focus is on fundamental aspects of photosynthesis and its widespread application in sustainability research.

Michigan State University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, operated by Stanford University, are working to build new microscopes that allow scientists to peer into plant cells like never before.

İlayda Korkmaz is an undergraduate student in the Benning Lab who is majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as well as Political Science. She is interested in energy and enzymes. In her free time, she likes to read, paint and watch movies.

Abhijnan Chattopadhyay, former graduate student in David Kramer’s lab, is headed to the National Institute of Health (NIH) at North Carolina Research Triangle Park for his postdoctoral fellowship.

Drew Mitchell is a former undergraduate student in the Benning lab and Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. "If there is something I’m struggling to find, or a problem that’s giving me trouble, there’s always someone [at the PRL] who is willing to chat about it and help if they can."

Third-year graduate student Bianca Serda from the Sharkey lab attended two scientific conferences this summer: The Gordon Research Conference on Biogenic Hydrocarbons and the Atmosphere in June, and the American Society of Plant Biologists Plant Biology Conference in July.

Similar to how chameleons can change colors to blend into their surroundings, cyanobacteria can tune their coloring to better absorb light in different environments.

Mauricio Tejera-Nieves is a postdoctoral researcher in the Walker lab and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. "Above all, I think the most valuable resource is its people, in my experience everyone is so knowledgeable and willing to collaborate."

Now with Ph.D. in hand, former MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) graduate student Yang-Tsung Lin is ready to continue his studies in algae as a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Sabeeha Merchant’s lab at UC Berkeley, beginning in July 2022.

Research Assistant Professor Sarathi Weraduwage from the Sharkey lab at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) has accepted a new position as a tenure-track assistant professor at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

The MSU Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation annually award the Postdoctoral Excellence in Research Award to two exceptional postdoctoral researchers for their contributions to MSU and the greater research community.

Member of the Benning lab at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) Drew Mitchell is a recipient of the 2022 Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics (MMG) Dietrich C. Bauer Scholarship Fund award. 

IMPACTS - Integrated training Model in Plant And Compu-Tational Sciences – is a program funded by the National Science Foundation designed to train doctoral students in advanced computational/data science approaches that can be applied to the field of plant biology. The program provides mentorship and funding to the students selected.

The annual forum provides students with an opportunity to showcase their scholarship and creative activity. Held each spring, the University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) brings together an intellectual community of highly motivated students to share their work with faculty, staff, peers and external audiences and receive constructive feedback from judges.

María Santos Merino, postdoctoral researcher from the Ducat lab at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL), is the first to be awarded the Clarence Suelter Endowed Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB).

Encouraging kids  to be future scientists is an outreach effort Heather Roney takes seriously. As an early-career scientist, she has looked for opportunities for outreach and ways to widely communicate the research within her field. 

James Santiago, postdoc in the Sharkey lab at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) has accepted a new position as a R&D plant physiologist at Soli Organic, a culinary herb company based in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Researchers are integrating their work into undergraduate cell and molecular biology laboratory courses at Michigan State University through the use of Arabidopsis mutant screenings.