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Ru Zhang, Principal Investigator
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Position:

Associate Member, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, since January 2024;
Assistant Member, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, October 2016-December 2023

Education and trainings:
Postdoc, Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, 2010-2016
PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2005-2009
BS, Nankai University, China, 2001-2005 

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Contact:

rzhang@danforthcenter.org 

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

975 N Warson Road, Olivette, MO 63132, USA

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About: Ru's research experience centers on photosynthesis and ranges from plant physiology/biochemistry to algal genomics to organelle evolution. During her PhD training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she worked with Dr. Thomas Sharkey using gas exchange and spectroscopic methods to study the effects of high temperature on photosynthesis in leaves of Arabidopsis and tobacco plants. During her postdoctoral training with Dr. Martin Jonikas and Dr. Arthur Grossman at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, Ru continued to explore photosynthesis by developing high-throughput genotyping and quantitative phenotyping tools in the eukaryotic, unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to identify photosynthesis-deficient algal mutants on a genome-wide scale. She also participated in the generation of a genome-saturating, indexed, mutant library of Chlamydomonas. The library could be used as both forward and reverse genetic platforms to dissect cellular processes under various conditions. In addition, she has worked on the photo-acclimation of the green amoeba Paulinella chromatophora (which has nascent “plastids” that evolved much more recently, 0.06 billion years ago) to gain insight into the evolution of photosynthetic organelles. She is passionate about how photosynthesis in plants/algae respond to abiotic stresses, especially heat stress. Her long-term career goal is to engineer photosynthesis for improved agricultural and biofuel production. Outside of the lab, Ru enjoys cooking, gardening, playing Ping Pong, watching movies, and playing with her kids. Ru is a mom of two boys: 6-year-old Zoran and 3-month-old Roger when she started her lab at Danforth in 2016.

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Michelle Richards

Position: 

Grants Specialist​, since July 2016

Education:

University of Missouri - Columbia, BSBA with Marketing Emphasis, Economics Minor

About: Michelle received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and a minor in Economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has worked in the administrative field for the past 10 years and has done everything from payroll processing to office management to assisting with grant proposal submissions. Michelle joined the Danforth Center in July of 2016 as an Administrative Assistant and now serves as a Grants Specialist for several of the labs here, including the Zhang lab.  

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Erin Mattoon

Position: 

Graduate Student, since April 2018 - July 2023

Postdoctoral Associate, since July 2023 - November 2023

Education:

Cornell University, BS in Biological Sciences, 2017

About: Erin received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University in May 2017.  Her work there focused on the genetic aspects underlying meiotic recombination in maize.  In the summer of 2015, she was an REU intern where she studied the genetic similarities between plant interactions with mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.  She is now a first-year graduate student in the Plant and Microbial Biosciences program at Washington University. Erin rotated in the Zhang lab from Nov - Dec in 2017 and then decided to join the Zhang lab for her PhD in April 2018 to study algal heat responses. In her free time, Erin enjoys cooking, swimming, and exploring the local community.   

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Divya Kanna

Position: 

Postdoctoral Associate, since August 2023

Education:

University of Szeged, PhD, 2023

About: Divya received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Szeged, Hungary, in January 2023. During her Ph.D., she worked in the Laboratory of Photosynthetic Membranes at the Biological Research Centre, investigating the macro-organization of thylakoid membrane complexes during salt stress acclimation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Euglena gracilis. Divya joined the Zhang Lab in August 2023 to study algal heat stress responses. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, singing, dancing, watching movies, and traveling.

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Dominique Pham

Position: 

Lab technician, since August 2023

Education:

University of Richmond, BS in Biology 2023

About: Dom received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Richmond in May 2023. During her time at UR, she researched germination and morphological plasticity in the newly established invasive species, wavyleaf basketgrass in the Wu lab. In the summer of 2022, she was an REU student at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, examining sex-expression in the dioecious alpine species, Valeriana edulis. In her free time, Dom enjoys hiking, reading, indoor gardening, and learning new hobbies. 

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Luke Brewer

Position: 

Lab Technician​, since August 2024

Education:

B.S. in Biology (Concentration in Genetics) with a Chemistry minor, Ball State University, 2024

About: Luke received his B.S. in Biology (Concentration in Genetics) and minor in Chemistry from Ball State University in May 2024. His work there examined the growth and morphology of serotonergic neurons and the expression of serotonin autoreceptors throughout development in Drosophila melanogaster. Luke has had an interest and passion for plant science from a young age and is excited to work with Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in the Zhang Lab. In his free time, Luke enjoys walking his dog, hiking, and gardening.

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Nushrat Rashid

Position: 

WUSTL rotation graduate student, since August 2024

Education:

Texas A&M University, BS in Biochemistry and Genetics, 2024

About: Nushrat received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Genetics from Texas A&M in May 2024. Summer of 2022, they did an internship researching Calcium transporter mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana and their effect on flood tolerance in the Hirschi lab. In undergrad, they were researching N-glycosylation in A. thaliana and its effect on salt stress response in the Koiwa lab. Nushrat is now a first year Plant and Microbial Biosciences student at Washington University in St. Louis. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games, reading comics, and visiting museums.

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Kaia Luik 

Position: 

Undergraduate student, since September 2022

Education:

Washington University in St. Louis, Sophomore

About: Kaia is a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis. She grew up in Houston, Texas and spent two years in Bangladesh. She has been interested in genetics since she started high school, and as a college freshman became focused on plant genetics. In the summer of 2022, she worked as a Grow Room Assistant at Elemental Enzymes. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing (with a recent interest in sketch comedy), and studying with friends.

Research Team                                           

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