Nian Wang 

Program Director 
nianwang@ufl.edu
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Research interests include Citrus, Huanglongbing, Liberibacter, Xanthomonas, Genome editing

Zhonglin Mou
Graduate Coordinator

zhlmou@ufl.edu 
Google Scholar | Research Gate
Research Interests: Plant Defense, Salicylic Acid, Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR)

Emily McFalls
PMCB Coordinator
emurphy1@ufl.edu 
Responsible for overall program coordination, including recruitment, admissions, student services, academic advising and administration

Faculty

Fredy Altpeter
Agronomy

altpeter@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Genome Editing, Homologous Recombination, Crop Biotechnology and Breeding

W. Brad Barbazuk
Biology

bbarbazuk@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Bioinformatics, Comparative and Functional Genomics, RNA Splicing

Gilles Basset
Horticultural Sciences

gbasset@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Systems Biology, Metabolic Biochemistry, Biological Networks

Elias Bassil
Tropical Research and Education Center 

ebassil@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Stress Physiology, Ion Homeostasis, Endomembrane Trafficking

Kevin Begcy
Environmental Horticulture

kbegcy.padilla@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Reproductive Development, Stress Biology, Biotechnology

Gordon Burleigh
Biology

gburleigh@ufl.edu 
Google Scholar
Research Interests: Computational Phylogenetics

Alan Chambers
Tropical Research and Education Center

ac@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Tropical Fruit, Genetics, Breeding

David Clark
Environmental Horticulture

geranium@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Floriculture, Biotechnology, Plant Breeding

Thomas Colquhoun
Environmental Horticulture

ucntcme1@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Biotechnology, Floriculture, Biochemistry

John Davis
FFGS - Forestry

jmdavis@ufl.edu 
Google Scholar
Research Interests: Functional Genomics, Disease Resistance, Tree Species

Bryndan Durham
Biology

b.durham@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Marine Microbiology

Robert J. Ferl
Horticultural Sciences

robferl@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: 14-3-3's, Space Biology, Chromatin Structure

Jessie Fernandez
Microbiology and Cell Science

jessie.fernandez@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Biochemistry, Genetics, Cell Biology, Microscopy, Molecular Biology, and General Microbiology

Svetlana Folimonova
Plant Pathology

svetlana@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Plant Pathogens-Host Interactions, Disease Management, and Citrus Greening

Kevin Folta
Horticultural Sciences

kfolta@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Biotechnology, Photoperiod, Strawberry

Dean W. Gabriel
Plant Pathology

dgabr@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Citrus Greening and Canker, Disease Resistance, Microbial Genetics

Fred Gmitter, Jr. 
Citrus Research and Education Center

fgmitter@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Breeding and Genetics, Citrus, Genomics

Andrew Hanson
Horticultural Sciences

adha@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Metabolic Biochemistry, Metabolic Engineering, Plant-Prokaryote Phylogenomics

Bernard Hauser
Biology

bahauser@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Seed Development, Stress Physiology, Arabidopsis, Soybean

Jeff B. Jones
Plant Pathology

jbjones@ufl.edu 
Google Scholar
Research Interests: Microbial Pathogenesis, Virulence, Disease Management

Jeongim Kim
Horticultural Sciences

jkim6@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Plant Secondary Metabolism, Phytohormones, Stress Physiology

Matias Kirst
FFGS - Forestry

mkirst@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Genomics, Bioenergy, Quantitative Genetics, Forestry

Karen Koch
Horticultural Sciences

kekoch@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Sugar Metabolism, Kernel Development, Functional Genomics

Seonghee Lee
Gulf Coast Research and Education Center

seonghee105@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Strawberry Genetics, Disease Resistance, Functional Genomics

Tong Geon Lee
Gulf Coast Research and Education Center

tongeonglee@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Bioinformatics, Genome Biology, Tomato

Amit Levy
Citrus Research and Education Center

amitlevy@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Phloem, Plasmodesmata, Pathogen Movement, Cell Biology, Citrus

Tie Liu
Horticultural Sciences

tieliu@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Postharvest Genomics, Potato Tuber Dormancy, Stress Biology, Meristem Development

Samuel Martins
Plant Pathology

sj.martins@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Plant Bacteriology, Microbiome, Biocontrol

Donald R. McCarty
Horticultural Sciences

drm@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Functional Genomics, Seed Development, Transposon Mutagenesis

Stuart McDaniel
Biology

stuartmcdaniel@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Genetic of Adaptation and Reproductive Isolation

Lauren McIntyre
Molecular Genetics and Mircobiology

mcintyre@ufl.edu 
Google Scholar
Research Interests: Genetic Genomics, Complex Phenotypes

Goeffrey Meru
Tropical Research and Education Center

gmeru@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Cucurbit Breeding, Genetics and Genomics

Zhonglin Mou
Microbiology and Cell Science
 
zhlmou@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Plant Defense, Salicylic Acid, Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR)

Patricio Munoz
Horticultural Sciences

p.munoz@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Blueberry, Breeding and Genomics, Quantitative Genetics

S. Swathi Nadakuduti
Environmental Horticulture

nadakuduti@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Gene-editing, CRISPR Systems, Plant Specialized Metabolism

David G. Oppenheimer
Biology

oppenhe@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Plant Cell Shape, Cytoskeleton, Membrane Trafficking

Anna-Lisa Paul
Horticultural Sciences

alp@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Space Biology, Transcriptomics, Chromatin Structure

Gary Peter
FFGS - Forestry

gfpeter@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Wood Development, Bioenergy, Tree Breeding

Bala Rathinasabapathi
Horticultural Sciences

brath@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Metabolic Adaptations to Stress, Functional Genomics of Stress Adaptations

Marcio F.R. Resende
Horticultural Sciences

mresende@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Maize Genetics, Genomics, Molecular Breeding, Quantitative Genetics

Jeffrey Rollins
Plant Pathology

rollinsj@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Host-Pathogen Interactions, Developmental Biology, Signal Transduction

Doug Soltis
Biology - FL Museum

dsoltis@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Angiosperm Phylogeny, Genome Doubling, Phylogeography

Pam Soltis
Biology - FL Museum

psoltis@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Plant Phylogenetics, Polyploidy, Gene Family Evolution

Wen Yuan-Song
Plant Pathology

wsong@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Kinase, Ubiquitin, Protein-Protein Interaction

Denise Tieman
Horticultural Sciences

dtieman@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Tomato Flavor, Fruit Aroma

C. Eduardo Vallejos
Horticultural Sciences

vallejos@ufl.edu 
Google Scholar
Research Interests: Genetics and Genomics, Genetics of Disease Resistance

Wilfred Vermerris
Microbiology and Cell Science

wev@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Developmental biology, Disease resistance, Specialized metabolism

Catalin Voiniciuc
Horticultural Sciences

cvoiniciuc@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Synthetic Biology, Plant Cell Walls, Polysaccharides

Jianping Wang
Agronomy

wangjp@ufl.edu 
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Research Interests: Genomics, Molecular Breeding, Bioenergy

Nian Wang
Citrus Research and Education Center

nianwang@ufl.edu 
Google Scholar | Research Gate
Research Interests: Citrus, Huanglongbing, Liberibacter, Xanthomonas, Genome editing

Meixia Zhao
Microbiology and Cell Science

meixiazhao@ufl.edu 
Google Scholar | Research Gate
Research Interests: Comparative genomics and epigenomics, Meiotic recombination in maize, Soybean immunity

Ying Wang

Plant Pathology

ying.wang1@ufl.edu

Google Scholar
Research Interests: plant-viroid interactions, 

Emeritus Faculty

Students

Name	Photo	Bio
Henry Schmidt		Henry received his M.Sc. in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida. Henry is a third-year student in Dr. Matias Kirst’s lab.
Xi Cheng		Xi received her M.S. from Purdue University and B.S. from Northwest A&F University. She is a third-year student in the lab of Meixia Zhao.
Alec Chin-Quee		Alec is a sixth-year Ph.D. student in Dr. Don McCarty's lab. Alec received his B.Sc. in Plant Science with honors from the University of Florida.
Yucheng Duan		Yucheng is a first-year student in Dr. Nian Wangs Lab. Yucheng received his bachelor’s in environmental plant science from Missouri State University
Gabriella Dickinson		Gabi received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She is a fourth-year Ph.D. student and in Dr. Gilles Basset's lab.
Manyu Zhang		Manyu is a first-year student in Dr. Nian Wangs Lab. Manyu received her Master’s in Plant Pathology from China Agricultural University
Hope Hersch		Hope received a double major in Biochemistry Molecular Biology and Plant Biology from Michigan State University. Hope is currently a seventh-year Ph.D. student working in Dr. Settles' lab.
Talia Jacobson		Talia received her B.S. in Genetics from Purdue University. She is a third-year student in the lab of Catalin Voiniciuc
Ryan Hardin		Ryan is a first-year student in the lab of Dr. Dean Gabriel. Ryan received his Bachelor’s in Plant Science from the University of Florida
Emma Kunkel		Emma has a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She is a third-year student in the lab of Dr. Vallejos
Larissa Laforest		Larissa received her B.Sc. in Biology: Biotechnology from UF. Larissa is a fifth-year student working in Dr. Nadakuduti's lab.
Makou Lin		Makou received his B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry and Mathematical Biology from the University of Central Florida. He is a third-year student in Dr. Jeongim Kim's lab.
Ethan Tucker		Ethan completed his Bachelor's in Plant Molecular & Cellular Biology while at UF. Ethan is a second-year student in Dr. Jeongim Kim's lab.
Nadia Mourad		Nadia received a B.Sc. in Microbiology & Cell Science, minors in Bioinformatics & Studio Art. Nadia is a fifth-year student working in Dr. Koch's lab.
Noe Perron		Noe has a Masters of Science and Engineering in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from ISARA, France. Noe is a fourth-year Ph.D. student working in Dr. Matias Kirst's lab.
Hunter Strickland		Hunter has a Bachelor of Science in Applied Biology with a minor in Plant & Environmental science from Louisiana Tech University. Hunter is a fourth-year Ph.D. student working in Dr. Rob Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul's labs.
Mair Edwards		Mair has a M.Sc. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Eastern Michigan University. Mair is a second-year Ph.D. student who is working in Dr. Catalin Voiniciuc and Dr. Andrew Hansons' labs.
Yichun Wang		Yichun received her M.Sc. degree in Agronomy from UF and her B.Sc. in Horticultural Science from Shenyang Agricultural University. She is a third-year student in the lab of Dr. Patricio Munoz.
Queen Offornedo		Queen is a first-year rotating student. Queen received her Master’s in Crop Biotechnology and Entrepreneurship from the University of Nottingham.
Mingxi Zhou		Mingxi has a B.Sc. in Horticultural Science, minor in Plant Molecular & Cellular Biol. from UF & Shandong Agricultural. Mingxi is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in Dr. Zhonglin Mou's lab.
Yunhan Wang		Yunhan completed her B.Sc. degree in Forest Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and her B.A. degree in Forestry at Nanjing Forestry University. She is a second-year student in the lab of Dr. Ying Wang
Avninder Kaur		Avninder completed her M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Texas. She is a second-year student in the lab of Dr. Tie Liu.
Shah Khan		Shah is a first-year rotating student. Shah received his master’s in plant biotechnology from the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan
John Williams		John is a first-year rotating student. John received his bachelor’s in plant science from the University of Florida
Alexandra Grusky		Alexandra is a first-year rotating student. Alexandra received her bachelor’s in biology from Williams College
Katherine Ransden		Katherine is a first-year rotating student. Katherine received her Bachelor’s in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from Marquette University
Megan Johnston		Megan is a first-year rotating student. Megan received her Bachelor’s in Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology from the University of Kentucky

Alumni

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