Plant Science and Technology

May 10, 2021

Senior Spotlight: Abby Schmidt

The Missouri 4-H organization instilled a strong passion for agriculture in Abby Schmidt. She took that passion to the University of Missouri, where she has double majored in plant sciences and agribusiness management. In all, Schmidt said she will graduate in May with nearly 160 credit hours. “It took a lot of organization to make it work, but because I started early on, it was doable in four years,” Schmidt said. “I had 20-plus hours some semesters so that I could cruise along at only 12 credit hours in this final semester.” Schmidt, who is from Foristell, Mo., worked very…

May 10, 2021

Senior Spotlight: Michelle Maile

When Michelle Maile transferred to the University of Missouri, her love for the outdoors led her to select biological sciences for her area of study. Once she got to Mizzou, though, she realized that there were multiple degree programs that hit on her true interests, which are related to natural resources and plant sciences. “At the community college I was at, they didn’t have any natural resource programs,” Maile said. “I honestly didn’t even know they existed. I figured biology was close to what I was interested in, but when I came here, almost everyone was pre-med or pre-vet. I…

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…

Feb. 9, 2021

Katherine Hagely

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…

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…

May 18, 2020

David Braun

Carbohydrate partitioning is the process whereby photoassimilates are distributed from their site of synthesis in leaves to the rest of the plant. Control of carbohydrate partitioning is crucial for plant growth and development, and underlies all aspects of crop yield, including cellulose deposition in cell walls and sucrose accumulation in storage organs, such as the stems of sugarcane or sweet sorghum. For most plants, fixed carbon, in the form of sucrose, is loaded into the phloem and transported from leaves to non-photosynthetic tissues, such as stems, roots, and fruits. This process is well characterized at the physiological, biochemical, and anatomical…

Jan. 14, 2020

Tom Slewinski

Tom Slewinski currently leads the Crop Efficiency and Disease Discovery Lead in the Biotechnology division of Bayer Crop Science in Chesterfield, MO. Prior to joining industry, Tom completed his post-doctoral training at Cornell University where he worked on the underlying genetics, physiology and evolution of phloem loading in trees and kranz-type C4 photosynthesis in maize. Educational background Ph.D., Plant Biology, Pennsylvania State University. B.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University…

Aug. 28, 2019

Suhas Kadam

Dec. 12, 2018

Kent Shannon

Educational background M.S., University of Missouri, 1993, Agricultural Engineering B.S., University of Missouri, 1990, Agricultural Engineering Courses taught AST 1040 – Physical Principles for Agricultural Applications AST 4320/7320 – Agricultural Equipment and Machinery AST PS SS 4360/7360 – Precision Agriculture Science and Technology AST 4365/7365 – Machinery Management Using Precision Agriculture Technology AST 4366/7366 – Data Management and Analysis Using Precision Agriculture Technology AST 4368/7368   – Profit Strategies Using Precision Agriculture Technology…