Get Involved
UC Davis Plant Biology Graduate Group offers a variety of opportunities for alumni to stay connected. No matter how you choose to get involved – from mentoring current students, to giving a gift, to participating in career panels – our alumni support is always welcome and greatly appreciated. Please complete the survey below to sign up for our Alumni Listserv and let us know where your life journey has taken you and how you would like to stay in touch with the graduate group!
Plant Biology Alumni Directory
Adaskaveg, Jaclyn: Ph.D. Spring 2023
Mentor(s): Barbara Blanco-Ulate
Dissertation: Physiological and Molecular Processes Driving Fruit Quality during Tomato and Pistachio Fruit Ripening
Amundson, Kirk: Ph.D. Winter 2022
Mentor(s): Luca Comai
Dissertation: Haploid Induction and Somatic Mutations of Potato
Gil, Ximena Anleu: Ph.D. Winter 2024
Mentor(s): Bo Liu
Dissertation: The Preprophase Band of Microtubules for Division Plane Specification in Land Plants
Bautista, Johanna: MS. Spring 2023
Mentor(s): Stacey Harmer, Li Tian
Bekkering, Cody: Ph.D. Summer 2023
Mentor(s): Li Tian
Dissertation: Untangling the Function of Carotenoid ?-Hydroxylases in Tetraploid Wheat: An Exploration of Carotenoid Metabolism at the Interface of Wheat Physiology and Human Nutrition
Brooks, Christopher: Ph.D. Winter 2023
Mentor(s): Stacey Harmer
Dissertation: Transcriptional and post-translational regulation of sunflower heliotropism
Caso, Tara: MS. Fall 2021
Mentor(s): Nitzan Shabek
Dissertation: Reconstitution and characterization of the Pisum sativum strigolactone signaling pathway
Czarnecki, Karo: MS. Fall 2021
Mentor(s): Neelima Sinha
Davis, Destiny: Ph.D. Fall 2020
Mentor(s): Georgia Drakakaki
Dissertation: Dissecting the Cell Biology and Evolution of Land Plant Cell Cytokinesis with Chemical Genomics
Sagawa, Cintia Helena Duarte: Ph.D. Winter 2021
Mentor(s): Abhaya Dandekar
Dissertation: Unbiased proteomics analysis of bacterial diseases of grapevine and walnut caused by Xanthomonadaceae pathogens
Gonzales, Jake: Ph.D. Summer 2023
Mentor(s): Shota Atsumi
Dissertation: Exploring Nontraditional Feedstocks for Renewable Microbial Chemical Production
Gouran, Mona: Ph.D. Spring 2023
Mentor(s): Siobhan Brady
Dissertation: Transcriptional Regulation of Xylem Development and Secondary Cell Wall Composition
Guo, Weier: Ph.D. Spring 2023
Mentor(s): Luca Comai
Dissertation: Chromoanagenesis in plants and the effects of structural variation in poplar
Han, Rongkui: Ph.D. Fall 2021
Mentor(s): Richard Michelmore
Dissertation: Genetic and Genomic Explorations of Flowering Time Components in Lettuce
Hao, Binhan: Ph.D. Spring 2022
Mentor(s): Steven Theg, Abhaya Dandekar
Dissertation: Analysis of the Mechanism of Protein Transport via the Twin-arginine Translocation Pathway
Hinojosa, Oscar: Ph.D. Summer 2022
Mentor(s): Daniel Potter
Dissertation: Systematic studies in the marigold (Tageteae) and thoroughwort (Eupatorieae) tribes (Asteraceae)
Huang, Po-Kai: Ph.D. Summer 2023
Mentor(s): Daniel Runcie
Dissertation: Unveiling the Path to Seasonal Flowering Responses: Exploring the Regulatory Mechanisms of Flowering Synchrony and Long-day Photoperiodic Responses
Jhu, Min-Yao: Ph.D. Summer 2021
Mentor(s): Neelima Sinha
Dissertation: Developing Parasite- Resistant Systems in Tomatoes to Control Infestations of Cuscuta campestris
Jo, Leonardo: Ph.D. Fall 2021
Mentor(s): John Harada
Dissertation: Transcriptional Regulatory Networks Controlling the Development of the Soybean Seed
Kane, Elton: MS. Spring 2024
Mentor(s): Christine Diepenbrock; Grey Monroe
Dissertation: Dissecting the genotypic and environmental basis of kernel compositional traits in pistachio using near-infrared spectroscopy
Li, Chenxin: Ph.D. Summer 2021
Mentor(s): Venkatesan Sundaresan
Dissertation: Genome-wide Redistribution of siRNAs in Rice Gametes and Zygotes
Liechty, Zach: Ph.D. Winter 2022
Mentor(s): Venkatesan Sundaresan
Dissertation: Taxonomies, Functions, and Applications of Rice-Associated Microbiome
Lynagh, Peter: Ph.D. Spring 2022
Mentor(s): Luca Comai
Dissertation: Architecture of DNA rearrangements in Arabidopsis and rice induced by CRISPR-cas9
Markel, Kasey: MS. Spring 2021
Mentor(s): Patrick Shih
Meier, Nathan: Ph.D. Fall 2023
Mentor(s): Savithramma Dinesh-Kumar
Dissertation: Interorganellar Communication During the Plant Innate Immune Response
Moenga, Susan: Ph.D. Fall 2020
Mentor(s): Douglas Cook
Dissertation: Molecular Physiology of Drought Responses in Wild and Cultivated Chickpea
Moore, Zane: Ph.D. Fall 2023
Mentor(s): Judy Jernstedt, David Neale
Dissertation: Somatic Mutation Accumulation in Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.)
Murphy, Katherine: Fall 2020
Mentor(s): Philipp Zerbe
Dissertation: Form and Function of Diterpenoids in Maize (Zea mays)
Nganga, Mwaura Livingstone: Ph.D. Spring 2022
Mentor(s): Luca Comai
Dissertation: The Genetics of Potato Haploid Induction, and The Potential Evolutionary Significance of Haploid Induction in Natural Plant Populations
Odell, Sarah Ph.D. Fall 2023
Mentor(s): Jeff Ross-Ibarra
Dissertation: Dissection of Quantitative Trait Variation in a Multi-Parent Maize Population
Rodriguez-Zaccaro, Fresia (Daniela): Ph.D. Summer 2022
Mentor(s): Andrew Groover
Dissertation: The Genetic Regulation of Wood Vessel Anatomical Traits in Populus
Rowland, Steven: Ph.D. Summer 2021
Mentor(s): Neelima Sinha
Dissertation: The Role of Leaf Shape and Vascular Density in Modulating Fruit Quality in Tomato Through Starch Mobilization and Sugar Export
Shankle, Kyle: Ph.D. Fall 2023
Mentor(s): Venkatesan Sundaresan
Dissertation: Insights into the Role of OsWOX9A in Zygotic and Somatic Embryogenesis and Improvements to Synthetic Apomixis in Rice
Shipman, Emma: MS. Winter 2024
Mentor(s): Diane Beckles
Silva, Christian: Ph.D. Summer 2021
Mentor(s): Barbara Blanco-Ulate
Dissertation: Untangling the Connections Between Fruit Ripening and Susceptibility to Fungal Pathogens
Sinclair, Rosalie: Ph.D. Winter 2024
Mentor(s): Georgia Drakakaki
Dissertation: Dissection of cell plate dynamics during cytokines and the role of callose in cell plate maturation
Steele, Daniel: Ph.D. Winter 2022
Mentor(s): John Yoder
Dissertation: Systematic studies in the marigold (Tageteae) and thoroughwort (Eupatorieae) tribes (Asteraceae)
Uzawa, Rie: Ph.D. Spring 2021
Mentor(s): John Harada
Dissertation: Regulation of Gene Expression in Soybean Seed Development