Parna GhoshParna is a Master’s student in Jeanne Harris’s lab. She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Calcutta, India. She joined the Cell and Molecular Biology Program at UVM with a special interest in genetics and cell signaling. She loves the outdoors and enjoys cooking as well.
Mark IsselhardtMy name is Mark Isselhardt. I'm pursuing an M.S. degree in Plant Biology. I will be working with Dr. Tim Perkins. We will be focused on predicting near-term impacts of climate change on the production of maple syrup in the northeast United States. In addition to my masters program I work as a Research Technician at the UVM Proctor Maple Research Center. I live in Hyde Park with my wife Kipp Bovey (B.S. Biology '98), our daughter Anna, and our son Charlie.
Stacy JorgensenI am a Master's student working with Dr. Dave Barrington on hybridization, polyploidy, and speciation. A general enthusiasm for using molecular tools to answer questions about plants led me to Dr. Barrington's lab, where we use an array of genetic tools to explore hybrid origins and evolutionary histories in the fern genus Polystichum. While I haven't focused in on a specific thesis topic to pursue, I am currently working in collaboration with Monique McHenry on hybrid histories of two polyploid species that co-occur in the Sierra Talamanca of Costa Rica.
Matt KaprothI'm a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Jane Molofsky. I have a particularly strong interest in invasive plant populations, and have completed research with Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) and Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven) which focused on characterizing suitable habitat and their patterns of spread. Recently I concluded studies using aerial imaging (remote sensing) to quantify propagule pressure and seed dispersal of A. altissima as part of my M.S. thesis at West Virginia University. While at UVM, I hope to develop my skills in spatially-explicit modeling, combining habitat characterizations, plant demography, dispersal, and GIS analysis. I hope that computer modeling may allow for not only predictions of where a species will spread, but also help us to understand when and under what circumstances the invasions may occur.
Emily LarsonI received my BA in Biology from Bennington College in 2003. After graduating, I worked as a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Dr. Linda Griffith until 2005, and then joined the lab of Dr. Nora Disis at the University of Washington. I worked with the Disis group until I was accepted into the CMB program in 2007. I currently study under Dr. Mary Tierney in the Plant Biology Department. My research interests center around how the extracellular matrix affects cell function. For my thesis I am characterizing proteins involved in vesicular trafficking pathways that are sensitive to changes in extracellular matrix organization, and how endocytosis as well as secretion may be involved in matrix metabolism. I investigate how these pathways function in the polarized root hair cells in the plant model system, Arabidopsis thaliana. I have presented aspects of my thesis work at several conferences, such as the Cell Wall XII conference in Porto, Portugal (2010), and the American Society of Plant Biologists conference in Minneapolis, MN (2011). I was also invited by Dr. Robert Ewy to be the ASPB Assisted Guest Lecture speaker for SUNY Potsdam's Biology department's lecture series in 2011.
Monique McHenryI am a PhD candidate in Dr. Dave Barrington’s Lab working on fern systematics and biogeography. The focus of my work in the lab is on a monophyletic clade within the genus Polystichum that is rich in endemic species from the northern and central Andes. I am using a traditional systematic approach integrating fieldwork, morphological and molecular data, and phylogenetic analyses to unravel the evolutionary history of Polystichum in the Andes.
Meghan McKeownI am a PhD student in Dave Barrington’s lab interested in studying fern biogeography and the genetics of plant conservation. I plan to use molecular techniques to learn the histories of polyploid ferns and more generally about the genetics of speciation. For my PhD, I plan to develop a project that combines questions of polyploidy, speciation, and phylogenetics to address a plant group of global conservation concern. I received my BA in Biology in 2011 from Carroll College in Helena, Montana, where I had previously done two years of undergraduate research focused on West Nile virus.
Carrie PuckoI am a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Brian Beckage on how climate change has affected the vegetation of the Green Mountains. I will be resurveying plots set up in the 1960s to understand the effects that global warming has had on the forest understory, and how that information may be used as an indicator to predict changes in the ecosystem as a whole. I have always loved field work and am excited to continue it in Vermont. My local research background involves studying the introduction of invasive shrubs to the Holyoke Range of Western Massachusetts via powerline corridors, as well as a project for the Worcester Ecotarium that required reclassifying and identifying nearly 2000 historical herbarium specimens. During a semester abroad with the School for Field Studies in 2003, I was also able to study the impacts that population growth and agriculture in Southern Kenya are having on the availability of medicinal plants. More formally, I recieved a B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies from the College of the Holy Cross in 2004 and I look forward to many happy years in the UVM Plant Biology department.
Chang ZhangI'm a Ph.D. student in Dr. Harris's lab. I'm from Tianjin, China. My research focuses on abscisic acid (ABA) and the LATD gene signaling pathway and how this pathway regulates plant growth and development. The Lateral-organ-Defective (LATD) gene was previously identified in the Harris lab, and it has been shown that the LATD gene plays an important role in regulating root meristem function and development. ABA has been shown to rescue latd mutant root defects. On the other hand, reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulate plant growth and development. As a result, I'm interested in whether and how ROS play a role in the ABA/LATD signaling pathway. To figure out other components in the ABA/LATD signaling pathway, I'm also looking for the transcription factors (TFs) as regulatory components through TF profiling.
Yucan ZhangI am a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Jeanne Harris. I got my Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from Shandong Normal University in China in 2006, and began my graduate study at UVM in 2007. I joined the Harris lab after my second rotation. I am interested in how plants adapt to environmental changes. The environmental input signals greatly affect the plant architecture which can be seen as the outputs. The genetic components involved in this transition are still largely unknown. My research is about how different wavelengths of light affect nodulation and lateral root formation on legume plants. This study will tie the environmental signal inputs and plant architecture outputs together through some key players, for example, plant hormones.
Prince Kudjoe ZogliPrince received his Bachelors from the University of Ghana in 2006. He was accepted into the Plant Biology PhD program in 2010. Prince is working in the Delaney lab to elucidate the role of SON1 induced genes in plant defense. He is interested in understanding the mechanisms of plant stress response particularly at the molecular level. While at UVM, He hopes to acquire valuable knowledge and skill which will develop him into an astute scientist in the future.
