Our Team & Experience

Executive Committee

Portrait of Pam Soltis, smiling, wearing a sleeveless blue and black patterned top, standing outdoors with a blurry green background.

PI | Pam Soltis

Biological Systems – Arabidopsis; Ecosystem Scale

Distinguished Professor and Curator, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0001-9310-8659

linkedin.com/in/pam-soltis-4021a524

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/soltis-lab/

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/people/pamela-soltis/

Portrait of Doug Soltis, wearing a black suit smiling against a blue background.

Doug Soltis

Biological Systems – Arabidopsis; Ecosystem Scale

Distinguished Professor, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0001-8638-4137

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-soltis-2555025/

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/soltis-lab/

Portrait of Tia-Lynn Ashman wearing glasses and a blue jacket with the text 'Mountain Hard Wear', with the ocean and sky in the background.

Tia-Lynn Ashman

Biological Systems – duckweed

Distinguished Professor, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0000-0002-9884-5954

https://ashmanlab2012.wixsite.com/ashmanlab

@drtialynn.bsky.social

Portrait of Don Fox, smiling and holding test tubes in a workspace.

Don Fox

Biological Systems – Drosophila

Professor, Duke University

ORCID: 0000-0002-0436-179X

https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-fox-66502915/

https://www.foxlabduke.com/

Portrait of Anna Selmecki, wearing a gray blazer and maroon shirt, smiling against a gray background.

Anna Selmecki

Biological Systems – yeast

Associate Professor, University of Minnesota

ORCID: 0000-0003-3298-2400

http://www.selmeckilab.com

David Jennings

Project Manager

Project Manager, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0003-0520-6983

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenningsdt/

Team Members

Portrait of Brian Abramowitz with short dark hair, beard, and a friendly smile, wearing a gray suit jacket and light blue shirt against a blue background.

Brian Abramowitz

Teacher Training

SEFS K-12 Education & Outreach Coordinator, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0001-8681-0853

http://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-gonda-pitt

Portrait of Brad Barbazuk, with a beard wearing a suit jacket and collared shirt outdoors with trees in the background.

Brad Barbazuk

Genomics & Bioinformatics

Professor & Chair, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0002-0909-4563

http://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-barbazuk-2765361

https://biology.ufl.edu/bbarbazuk/

Pamela Rueda Cediel

Data Scientist, University of Kentucky

ORCID: 0000-0002-3360-7875

http://linkedin.com/in/pamela-rueda-cediel-9b9474101

Jeff Doyle

Biological Systems – Arabidopsis

Professor, Cornell University

ORCID: 0000-0003-1579-9380

https://cals.cornell.edu/jeffrey-j-doyle

Portrait of Pau Formosa-Jordan, outdoors during daytime, wearing a dark brown sweater over a light blue collared shirt, with trees and blurred foliage in the background.

Pau
Formosa-Jordan

Modeling

Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research

ORCID: 0000-0003-3005-597X

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pau-formosa-jordan-2124a12/

https://www.mpipz.mpg.de/formosa

Portrait of Rebecca Gonda, wearing a white floral blouse and black cardigan standing outdoors with city buildings and trees in the background.

Rebecca Gonda

Teacher Training

Teaching Associate Professor/Director of Outreach, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0000-0003-1679-651X

http://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-gonda-pitt

http://biology.pitt.edu/k-12-outreach

Hajra Maqsood

Research Associate, University of Mississippi

ORCID: 0009-0008-9650-5893

http://www.linkedin.com/in/hajra-maqsood-91b101186

Portrait of Rob Guralnick, wearing a green jacket and a gray shirt, standing indoors in front of a bright, blurred background.

Rob Guralnick

Data Science; Ecosystem Scale

Professor and Curator, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0001-6682-1504

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-guralnick-82133a25/

https://www.gurlab.net/

Portrait of Stephanie Killingsworth, a woman with wavy, shoulder-length hair smiling at the camera, wearing a navy blue shirt with sailboat patterns and a colorful, patterned neckline, against a gray background.

Stephanie Killingsworth

Teacher Training

SEFS K-12 Education & Outreach Coordinator, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0001-5257-9868

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-killingsworth-b633a3124/

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/scientist-in-every-florida-school/

Portrait of David Miller, smiling outdoors in front of a colorful background.

David Miller

Assessment

Professor, University of Florida

Portrait of Adrienne Roeder, a smiling woman with glasses, light brown hair, and wearing a maroon top with a gold necklace, posed in front of a gray background.

Adrienne Roeder

Biological Systems – Arabidopsis

Associate Professor, Cornell University

ORCID: 0000-0001-6685-2984

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrienne-roeder-2277bb75/

https://roeder.wicmb.cornell.edu/

@roederlab.bsky.social

Portrait of Martin Turcotte, standing outdoors next to a blossoming pink cherry blossom tree.

Martin Turcotte

Biological Systems – duckweed

Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0000-0003-3949-6958

http://www.martinturcotte.net/

@exp-evoeco.bsky.social

Portrait of Yves Van de Peer, wearing a blue sweater over a collared shirt, smiling softly with arms crossed in a bright, indoor setting.

Yves Van de Peer

Biological Systems – Chlamydomonas; Bioinformatics

Professor, VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology

ORCID: 0000-0003-4327-3730

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yves-van-de-peer-9795a52/

https://www.vandepeerlab.be/

Portrait of Rosana Zenil-Ferguson, wearing a white top, outdoors with green foliage in the background.

Rosana
Zenil-Ferguson

Modeling

Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky

ORCID: 0009-0005-8514-3127

Post-Docs

Portrait of Quinten Bafort, outdoors, wearing a black shirt and a camera strap around his neck.

Quinten Bafort

Postdoctoral Associate, VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology

ORCID: 0000-0003-2155-3344

https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinten-bafort-685316250/

Iram Ijaz

Postdoc, University of Florida

ORCID: 0009-0005-9534-0431

https://www.linkedin.com/in/iram-i-360511234/

Fabricio Almeida-Silva

Postdoctoral Associate, VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology

ORCID: 0000-0002-5314-2964

https://almeidasilvaf.github.io/

Shengchen Shan

Postdoc, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0002-9472-0986

Briante S. L. Najev

Postdoctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0000-0002-0599-1902

https://www.linkedin.com/in/briante-najev-711795151/

@briante-najev.bsky.social

Jonathan P. Spoelhof

Postdoctoral Associate, University of Florida

ORCID: 0000-0002-9630-7095

Nathália Susin Streher

Postdoc, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0000-0002-8099-0766

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nath%C3%A1lia-susin-streher-754b7086/

https://nathaliasstreher.weebly.com/

Portrait of Archan Chakraborty smiling with crossed arms, standing in front of a window overlooking a cityscape with a church and buildings.

Archan Chakraborty

Postdoctoral Associate, Duke University

https://scholars.duke.edu/person/archan.chakrabort

Portrait of Eric G. Yee smiling in a library or bookstore setting.

Eric G. Yee

Postdoctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0000-0001-7823-8551

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-yee-a5011250/

@leafpolish.bsky.social

Amanda Rawstern

Postdoc, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0000-0003-3699-9277

https://arawstern.wixsite.com/home

@arawstern.bsky.social

Students

Tahmina Akter

PhD Student, University of Mississippi

ORCID: 0009-0005-3286-5513

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahmina-akter-56515418a/

Portrait of Hannah Assour holding a small book, wearing a white t-shirt with a recycling symbol and text, standing outdoors on a wooden railing with green trees and water in the background.

Hannah Assour

PhD Student, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0000-0001-7616-4720

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-assour/

María Cuervo-Gómez

PhD Student, University of Florida

ORCID: 0009-0005-8514-3127

Portrait of Keila Jellings, smiling, wearing a professional black blazer and white top, against a plain light background.

Keila Jellings

PhD Student, University of Pittsburgh

ORCID: 0009-0006-1178-7074

www.linkedin.com/in/keila-jellings-7a3302226

Seray Altintas

PhD Student, VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology

ORCID: 0000-0001-9215-8435

https://www.linkedin.com/in/serayaltintas3/

Portrait of Lilijana Oliver smiling outdoors in a green, grassy area.

Lilijana Oliver

PhD Student, Cornell University

ORCID: 0000-0002-9812-1219

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilijana-oliver-849098178

https://roeder.wicmb.cornell.edu/members/

Portrait of Aaron Shipman, smiling at the camera against a plain background.

Aaron Shipman

PhD Student, Cornell University

ORCID: 0000-0001-8636-8057

https://roeder.wicmb.cornell.edu/members/

Portrait of Joshua Silva smiling, wearing a gray baseball cap with Quiksilver logo, a gray t-shirt, gold chain necklace, standing in front of a filing cabinet filled with paper files.

Joshua Silva

PhD Student, Duke University

ORCID: 0009-0005-6162-9966

https://www.foxlabduke.com/

Our team members represent 9 different institutions.

Red seal for Cornell University with a circular design and intricate patterns.
Duke University logo with the word 'Duke' in large blue font and 'UNIVERSITY' in smaller blue font below it.
Partial view of a logo with the letters 'UF' in blue and an orange vertical line on the right.
Logo of Ghent University with a blue outline drawing of a classical building and the university's name in bold blue letters.
Stanford University logo with interlocking 'U' and 'K' in blue and white.
Logo of Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, featuring a stylized leaf and a profile of a classical figure with a laurel wreath
Logo for University of Minnesota Morris Maroon letter M with a small registered mark to its right.
Logo of the University of Mississippi featuring a red columned building and text.
University of Pittsburgh logo with blue and gold colors, featuring a shield with a castle and a checkerboard pattern, and the year 1787.