Current Lab Members
These are the scientists making the research that happens in the lab possible.
This lab exists to produce both excellent research and excellent scientists.
We expect to break only hypotheses as we build excellence through iteration.
Meet the people climbing our mountains.
Lesley Murphy
Senior Scientist
Dr. Lesley Murphy joined the lab in 2026 after a 14-year career in Industry. Her academic training was in photosynthesis and biochemistry, focusing on crop species and climate change in her PhD and Post-Doc. She has always wanted to link gene expression to biochemical reactions to physiological responses as a way to improve abiotic stress tolerance in crop species.
Alondra Torres
Graduate Student
Alondra joined the lab in 2024. She brings expertise in protein analysis and protein interaction. Her project is characterizing chloroplast membrane interactions.
Diptadeep Basak
Graduate Student
Diptadeep joined the lab in Summer 2025. His project centers on studying proteins associated with cold severity in plants. He is exceptionally motivated and brings strong dedication to his work. He aspires to become an expert in plant molecular biology and is deeply committed to advancing his knowledge in the field. In addition to his scientific pursuits, he is also a professional percussionist.
And you?
And you?
We have space for more than one graduate student now! Come join our team.
:)
Rebecca Roston
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
A brief biography:
2003 B.S. UC Davis
2009 Ph.D. UC Davis with Kentaro Inoue
Focused on chloroplast protein targeting.
2014 Post-Doc. MSU with Christoph Benning
Focused on Plant Lipid Metabolism and Transport.
2014 - 2026: University of Nebraska - Lincoln
2020 - 2026 Associate Professor
2023 - 2026 Associate Director, Center for Plant Science Innovation
2026 - current: Associate Professor, Michigan State University
Focused on Chloroplast Membrane Remodeling
Teaching:
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UNL - Macromolecular Structure and Metabolism, a beginning biochemistry course at UNL (BIOC431)
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UNL - Enzymes, a graduate level course on thermodynamics, kinetics, and mechanism of life's catalysts (BIOC 933)
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UNL - Graduate Seminar, Professional Development - Menteeing, Honors
Former Lab Members
Congratulations on your success and thank you for your contributions!
Dr. Allison Barnes
Ph Done
2014 - 2019. Allison's dissertation describes how plants react to freezing and other stresses by modifying membranes. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow and Project Manager with the USDA in Raleigh, North Carolina
Dr. Zachery Shomo
Ph Done
2018 - 2024 Zach's dissertation describes the mechanism through which an enzyme critical to freezing tolerance, SFR2, senses cold severity. He is currently doing post-doctoral research with Frank Harmon at UC Berkeley.
Dr. Aline Rodrigues de Quieroz
Ph Done
2019 - 2024. Aline's dissertation describes the effects of exogenously applied antioxidants on plant growth, particularly on photosynthesis.
She is currently with Corteva.
Co-mentor: Katarzyna Glowacka
Dr. Jithesh Vijayan
Post-doctoral Researcher
2019 - 2024. Jithesh's encyclopedic knowledge of redox and enthusiasm for systems-level biology helped direct a project which resulted in two patents, and multiple manuscripts, which were held for the patents. In a team, he pioneered plants redox responses to exogenous addition of CoM. Now Lead of new product development at Earthkind Foods Biotech.
Dr. Fangyi Li
Ph Done
2019 - 2024 Fangyi's dissertation describes a more effective way to measure whole-field photosynthetic fluorescence parameters and the metabolic and genetic players in cold acclimation in sorghum varieties.
Co-mentor James Schnable
Fangyi is now a post-doc at the Kunming Institute of Botany.
Dr. Jeremy Brown
Ph Done
2019 - 2025. Jeremy's dissertation showed that a small archaeal antioxidant may have large agricultural impacts, and that we need to understand more before we can successfully translate to field technology.
Dr. Evan LaBrant
Ph Done
2017 - 2025. Evan's dissertation describes the first components for membrane contact sites between the chloroplast envelope and the thylakoid membranes. He made a visualization system for them, set up TurboID, and characterized subcellular locations of multiple contact site homologs.
Cailin Smith
PhDone
2021 - 2026. Cailin's dissertation, "On the Transport of Thylakoid Lipids" exemplified her expertise in scientific writing, including all new versions of her collaborations and highighting her progress identifying TVPFP as a chloroplast lipid flippase necessary for thylakoid development.
Joslin Ishimwe
Master Scientist
2021 - 2023, 2024 - 2026, MS.Joslin joined the lab in 2021 as an undergraduate, and returned in 2024 as a Master's student in Computer Science. He developed new methods of image quantification for high throughput live cell microscopy.
Dr. Evan LaBrant
Ph Done
2017 - 2025. Evan's dissertation describes the first components for membrane contact sites between the chloroplast envelope and the thylakoid membranes. He made a visualization system for them, set up TurboID, and characterized subcellular locations of multiple contact site homologs.
Samira Mahboub
Technologist
2014 - 2026. Samira clocked hundreds of hours doing lipid analysis, and co-authored many publications. Also an expert in plant growth and cold tolerance, she led a large project looking at the influence of daily rhythms on cold tolerance.
Did you know?
Caesalpinia echinata
Brazil is named after a tree! It is a tree used for timber and wood products, and commonly sold in the US as "brazilwood".
Former Undergraduate Lab members*
Thank you all for your hard work. We enjoyed getting to know you and hope that your time with us improved your career.
*Special apology to all not appearing, web mastery is not Rebecca's strength.
Mason McCormic
Undergraduate Researcher
Mason joined the lab in 2016, graduated UNL in 2019 and is now working in the chemistry industry. He is a co-author on a paper!
Jennifer Myers
Undergraduate Researcher
Jenny joined the lab in 2016 and graduated in 2018. She's now off being a PhD student at North Carolina State University.
Harris Ebrahim
Undergraduate Researcher
2020 - 2024
Harris graduated and is pursuing a medical degree. We appreciate his contributions to the lab in all projects, but especially cold severity sensing.
Jamie Fuqua
Undergraduate Student
Jamie joined the lab in 2020. She brought expertise in plant anatomy and physiology and interest in patent law. Her project connected plant and bacterial growth using redox. She left to pursue graduate work in ecology.
Tom Ramaekers
Postbaccalaureate Technician
Tom joined in 2020 and is going to be a doctor. We all think he'll be great at it. He brought his desire to learn and his willingness to work hard. His project looked at salt stress and its affects on plant redox environments.
Ngoc Pham Thien Thao
Postbaccalaureate Technician
Ngoc joined in 2019 and is interested in medicinal plants. We benefitted from her excitement for learning new techniques. Her project looked at mechanisms used to protect membranes from freezing. She is now in graduate school in Chicago.
Samantha Surber
Undergraduate Researcher
"Sammi" joined the lab in 2018 working directly with Allison Barnes. She then pursued her own projects on the role of proton pumps during freezing tolerance, and a mysterious species which responded differently, cotton. She graduated in 2020 and is doing a PhD at the University of Georgia.
Mahaa Albusharif
Undergraduate Researcher
Mahaa joined the lab in 2018. She tested multiple methods of lipid extraction to determine the most effective, and published the research with us. She's now pursuing a medical career.
Maxwell Regester
Postbaccalaureate Technician
Max joined in 2019 and graduated in 2021. He tested multiple methods of lipid extraction to determine the most effective, and published the research with us. He's in medical school now studying to be a doctor.
Sarah Heilman
Undergraduate Researcher
Sarah joined the lab in 2023 to explore a potential career in research. She brought a joy for learning and a willingness to be taught. She worked with Aline on photosynthetic effects of antioxidant application, and is now a Forensic Scientist for Bexar County.
Pacifique Muzigura
Undergraduate Researcher
Pacifique joined the lab in 2022. He brought his previous research experience in plants. He worked as part of a team to uncover plant signaling mechanisms during severe cold, and has a lot to offer the world including an incredible charisma.
Hailey Olberding
Undergraduate Researcher
Hailey joined the lab in 2022. She brought her desire to learn and her willingness to work hard. Her project looked at the molecular responses of applying antioxidants to plants. She is currently in medical school.
Bhoomi Modi
Undergraduate Researcher
2025 - 2026. Bhoomi participated in multiple lab support projects. She continues her journey now as a medical technician.
Allan Tullis
Undergraduate Researcher
Allan joined the lab in the fall of 2024 -2026. His strong work ethic and his willingness to excel allowed him to gain expertise in quantiative image analysis, plant science, DNA extraction, and PCR. He's looking forward to a career in dentistry!
Reema Rida
Undergraduate Researcher
2025 - 2026. Reema made significant contributions to our analysis of potential contact site proteins in the chloroplast. Her strong work ethic and clear understanding of biochemistry lead to her picking up multiple aspects of plant management, as well as DNA extraction and PCR. Thanks Reema!
Thank you all
Undergraduate Researcher
A first research job often feels exceptionally difficult, as there are many steps to most procedures, and they can fail. We appreciate all of the efforts of those who have assisted us!
Thank you all
Undergraduate Researcher
A first research job often feels exceptionally difficult, as there are many steps to most procedures, and they can fail. We appreciate all of the efforts of those who have assisted us!
Did you know?
Caesalpinia echinata
Brazil is named after a tree! It is a tree used for timber and wood products, and commonly sold in the US as "brazilwood".
