People: Faculty
Jared Ali
Assistant Professor of Entomology
Behavior and chemical ecology of multi-trophic interactions, including plant responses to below-ground herbivory and nematode. Insect community ecology, chemical ecology, and coevolution. Trophic cascades, above- and below-ground interactions,…
Charles Anderson
Associate Professor of Biology In vivo imaging of plant cell wall dynamics. Molecular genetic analysis of genes involved in cell growth. Cell wall biosynthesis in dividing cells. Cell wall engineering for sustainable bioenergy production.
Sarah Assmann
Waller Professor of Biology Molecular biology of plant G-proteins and kinases. Phytohormone regulation of signal transduction and RNA processing. Second messenger regulation of ion channels in plant cells.
Michael Axtell
Professor of Biology Discovery and characterization of plant microRNAs and siRNAs. Functions of microRNAs and siRNAs in the evolution of plant development. Genomics and bioinformatics of microRNAs, siRNAs, and their targets
Robert Berghage
Associate Professor of Plant Science Environmental plant physiology. Controlled and modified environments for plant growth. Eco-roofs, rooftop greening, and other uses of plants in distributed stormwater management systems.
Philip Bevilacqua
Co-Director, Center for RNA Molecular Biology; Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Roles of RNA-binding proteins in plant physiology. Plant ribonomics. Identification and characterization of functional RNAs in plants.
Kathleen Brown
Professor of Plant Stress Biology Regulation of root development. Root responses to edaphic stress. Identification and genetic mapping of traits for adaptation to edaphic stress.
Nicole Brown
Associate Professor of Wood Chemistry Adhesives, wood composites, cellulosic materials, and bacterial cellulose. Polymer science. Chemistry of wood biopolymers, and other chemical treatments of wood.
Donald Bryant
Ernest C. Pollard Professor of Biotechnology; Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Photosynthesis, structure-function relationships of proteins, gene regulation, and microbial physiology. Cyanobacteria and green sulfur bacteria. Genomics of photosynthetic bacteria.
Carolee Bull
Director of the Microbiome Center; Professor of Plant Pathology; Bacterial Systematics Head, Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology Bacterial systematics, epidemiology, and population biology of bacterial plant pathogens and biological control agents to develop alternatives to synthetic chemicals for plant disease management
John Carlson
Professor of Molecular Genetics; Director, Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics Genome mapping, including genetic linkage mapping, molecular cytogenetics; studies of genetic diversity in forests.
Jeffrey Catchmark
Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Cellulose synthesis and organization, cellulosic composites and coatings, microbial cellulose production, and chemically powered microfluidic and biological devices and sensors.
Surinder Chopra
Professor of Maize Genetics Regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis during plant development and plant-pathogen interaction. Epigenetic regulation and allele specific patterns.
Erin Connolly
Professor and Head of Plant Science Molecular mechanisms of micronutrient transport. Iron uptake and compartmentalization. Metal ion homeostasis
Daniel Cosgrove
Eberly Chair and Professor of Biology Mechanism of plant growth. Function and evolution of expansins. Biochemistry and rheology of plant cell walls. Growth responses to light, hormones, and water stress and other stimuli.
Wayne Curtis
Professor of Chemical Engineering Regulation and signal transduction in plant secondary metabolism. Phytoremediation of hydrocarbons. Commercial chemical production in plants and plant tissue culture.
Claude dePamphilis
Professor of Biology
Genomics, bioinformatics, and molecular evolution. Origin and diversification of flowers and developmental pathways. Comparative genomics of plants, organelles, and plant gene families. Genomics, evolution, and functional biology of parasitic…
David Eissenstat
Professor of Woody Plant Physiology Plant physiological ecology. Root biology and physiology. Plant carbon and nutrient economies.
Gary Felton
Professor and Department Head of Entomology Plant-herbivore interactions. Adaptive responses of herbivores to plant defenses. Herbivore cues recognized by plants with specific focus on biochemical and molecular analysis of salivary secretions.
Majid Foolad
Professor of Plant Genetics
Genetic characterization of resistance/tolerance to biotic/abiotic stresses, and genes/QTLs contributing to tomato fruit quality. Investigation of genes/QTLs for directed crop improvement and germplasm enhancement. Tomato cultivar development &…
John Golbeck
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Light reactions in photosynthesis. Structure and function of photosystem I and the heliobacterial reaction center. Regulation and bioassembly of iron-sulfur clusters in cyanobacteria and plants. Plant and bacterial metalloproteins. Generation using…
Ying Gu
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis in higher plants. Genetic modification of plant cell wall to scale-up biofuel production.
Mark Guiltinan
J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany; Professor of Plant Molecular Biology; Director, Endowed Program in the Molecular Biology of Cocoa
Plant functional genomics, metabolomics and biotechnology. Research focuses on identification of key genes for disease resistance and important traits in the tree crop Theoboma cacao, the Chocolate tree. We collaborated with other labs at Penn State…
David Huff
Professor of Turfgrass Breeding and Genetics Population genetics. Plant evolution and ecology. Crop improvement. Physiological tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress.
Seogchan Kang
Professor of Plant Pathology & Environmental Microbiology Genetic and cellular mechanisms underpinning plant-fungal interactions with Arabidopsis thaliana and Fusarium oxysporum as a model system. Molecular genetics and comparative genomics of fungal plant pathogens. Bioinformatics.
Teh-hui Kao
Chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Plant Biology; Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Molecular, biochemical, and structural bases of the S-RNase-based self-incompatibility system in flowering plants. F-box protein-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of proteins.
Jesse Lasky
Assistant Professor of Biology Ecological & evolutionary genomics, genetic and ecophysiological basis of adaptation to environmental stress, evolutionary ecology of biological complexity.
Jonathan Lynch
Distinguished Professor of Plant Nutrition Plant adaptation to nutrient and water stress. Global change. World hunger. Root biology.
Hong Ma
Professor of Biology; Huck Distinguished Research Professor of Plant Molecular Biology Plant development under favorable and stressful conditions; phylogeny and evolutionary biology of plant groups containing major crops and ecologically important species.
Sally Mackenzie
Lloyd and Dottie Huck Chair for Functional Genomics; Professor of Biology; Professor of Plant Science Organelle biology and cellular specializations. Plant epigenetics, memory and phenotypic plasticity. Crop epigenetic breeding.
Siela Maximova
Senior Scientist and Professor of Horticulture Molecular basis of plant-pathogen and plant-endophyte interactions. Biotechnology of tree crops. Development of sustainable energy crops.
Timothy McNellis
Associate Professor of Plant Pathology & Environmental Microbiology Genetics, molecular biology and physiology of plant interactions with phytopathogenic bacteria. Signal transduction events involved in plant disease resistance. Genetic control of plant hypersensitive cell death.
Gabriele Monshausen
Associate Professor of Biology Plant cell signaling. Hormonal and mechanical signal transduction in plant growth regulation. Live cell imaging of subcellular microdomains of ionic signaling.
B. Tracy Nixon
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Structural and functional basis of cellulose synthesis. Using Physcomitrella patens and other organisms as model systems, we are learning how plants make cellulose for building new cell wall. The studies use methods of molecular biology and cryoEM to…
Tanya Renner
Assistant Professor of Entomology Evolution of chemical and structural defense. Molecular evolution, evolutionary genomics, and transcriptomics. Origins and evolution of carnivorous plants.
Cristina Rosa
Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology & Environmental Microbiology
Plant Virology, interaction of plant viruses with their insects as vectors and with their plant hosts. Virus evolution, exploration of plant viromes, viral co-infections, effect of climate change on viral resistant breaking strains. Use of…
Andrew Stephenson
Distinguished Professor of Biology The impact of inbreeding by plants on organic volatile production, herbivory and the establishment and spread of diseases. The effects of disease on the foraging behavior of vectors and their natural enemies.
Ming Tien
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Characterization and biochemical analysis of cellulose synthesis in a variety of organisms. Mechanism and regulation of fungal degradation of lignin. Dissimilatory Iron reduction.
James Tumlinson
Director of the Center for Chemical Ecology; Ralph O. Mumma Professor of Entomology Insect chemical ecology. Plant-insect interactions. Insect attractants.
Yinong Yang
Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology Signal perception and transduction in rice-pathogen interactions. Molecular and genomic strategies for increasing disease resistance and drought tolerance in cereal crops.