Plant Stress

Erin Sparks

June 24, 2025

Erin Sparks

Sparks holds a joint appointment with the University of Missouri and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. She is passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex challenges. Her background training includes a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology and postdoctoral work in Plant Molecular Biology. Educational background Ph.D., Vanderbilt University…

Joseph Lynch

July 31, 2024

Joseph H. Lynch

Dr. Lynch grew up in rural Washington State and received his BS in Biology from Gonzaga University. He then earned his PhD from Washington State University in the Molecular Plant Sciences program, with his graduate research in the lab of Dr. Sanja Roje focusing on the metabolism of flavin cofactors. After completion of his degree, he took a postdoctoral position in Dr. Natalia Dudareva’s lab at Purdue University studying the production and release of phenylpropanoid/benzenoid volatiles in plants. During his postdoc, he helped elucidate a cytosolic pathway for synthesis of the amino acid phenylalanine in plants that operates in parallel…

Jasmine Neupane

Aug. 31, 2023

Jasmine Neupane

  Jasmine Neupane is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Systems Technology in the Division of Plant Science and Technology. Her faculty appointment includes research and teaching responsibilities in Plant Science and Technology. Before starting her position at University of Missouri-Columbia, Neupane was serving as an Assistant Research Professor of Precision Agriculture at Montana State University. Neupane’s research is at the forefront of agricultural innovation, focusing on seamless integration of advanced agricultural technologies into cropping systems. Her work is driven by a deep commitment to addressing the complex challenges facing modern agriculture, such as increasing food production to feed a growing…

Andre Froes de Borja Reis

April 5, 2023

Andre Froes de Borja Reis

Andre FB Reis is the statewide specialist in soybean farming systems and joined the division of Plant Science and Technology in 2023. Educational background Ph.D., Crop Science, University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) M.S., Crop Science, Federal University of Tocantins (Brazil) B.S., Agronomy, University of Sao Paulo (Brazil)…

Tian Peng posing.

Oct. 13, 2022

Peng Tian

Tian has an extension appointment in plant disease diagnosis. His responsibilities include management of Plant Diagnostic Clinic at University of Missouri and participation in Missouri Integrated Pest Management program and National Plant Diagnostic Network. His extension program provides identification services of plant disease, weed and insect as well as disease management recommendations to growers, agricultural professionals, agribusinesses, and the various commodity groups in the state. His research program focuses on identification of new plant diseases and development of innovative assays to characterize and differentiate viral and fungal pathogens in specialty crops to address current plant health problems and ensure the…

Sam Lord smiling.

Feb. 21, 2022

Sam Lord

Educational background Ph.D. (in progress), University of Missouri, Natural Resources – Emphasis in Soil B.S. 2016, University of Missouri, Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences – Emphasis in Soil Courses taught Soil 2100 Lecture: Introduction to Soil Science Soil 2106 Laboratory: Introductory Soil Science Lab NATR 1070: Ecology and Conservation of Renewable Resources…

Craig Schenck

June 30, 2021

Craig Schenck

To deal with relentless environmental pressures, plants produce an arsenal of structurally diverse defensive chemicals. These sometimes-complex compounds are derived from much simpler building blocks from primary metabolic pathways. Unlike well-documented diversification of plant specialized metabolic enzymes, core metabolic pathways are highly conserved and evolutionarily constrained because they serve essential metabolic functions, which makes manipulation of these pathways difficult. The expansion and alteration of core metabolism has given rise to the evolution of structurally diverse plant specialized metabolites. However, the underlying mechanisms enabling metabolic diversity and the connections linking core to specialized metabolism are not well known. These knowledge gaps…

Heike Buecking

April 5, 2021

Heike Buecking

Plants are metaorganisms that engage in intimate associations with a wide diversity of microorganisms. Many of these microorganisms are beneficial and help plants to overcome a variety of abiotic and biotic stresses. In our research, we focus particularly on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and nitrogen fixing rhizobia bacteria. AM fungi played a significant role during land plant evolution and form close interactions with the roots of 70% of land plants, including many agronomically important species, such as corn, soybean, or wheat. AM fungi increase the nutrient acquisition of for example phosphate, nitrogen, sulfur, and potassium from the soil, and improve…

A medium-skinned woman with medium-length black hair wears glasses and a grey blazer while standing in front of a green houseplant and smiling.

Dec. 11, 2020

So-Yon Park

Host-Parasitic plant interaction is a fascinating model to study Plant-Plant interaction. Park is interested in how mobile RNAs and proteins are exchanged, transferred, and functional in other organisms through the host-parasite interaction. Cuscuta (stem parasitic plant) and Phelipanche (root parasitic plant) growing on Arabidopsis, tomato, and soybean are major parasites used in Park lab. We are also interested in how small RNAs are transported and suppress target genes under drought stress in soybeans. Educational Background B.S., Dankook University, South KoreaPh.D., Seoul National University, South Korea…

Jacob Washburn

Dec. 2, 2020

Jacob Washburn

Educational background Ph.D., Biological Sciences, University of Missouri M.S., Plant Breeding, Texas A&M University B.S., Biology, Brigham Young University…