Principal Investigator
Wolfgang Busch
Professor
Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory
Integrative Biology Laboratory
Wolfgang did his undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Tübingen, Germany. During this time, he also spent 8 months at UC San Diego where he received training on computational biology and conducted research on transporter proteins. During his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, he identified novel key regulatory genes and modules for plant stem cell control via a systems biology approach integrating transcriptome- and genome-scale transcription factor-DNA binding data. Wolfgang received his PhD in 2008 from the University of Tübingen. During his postdoctoral training at Duke University he contributed to the discovery of spatiotemporally defined regulatory modules that control proliferation of stem cells and differentiation in the root, and used high-throughput confocal microscopy to capture dynamic features of gene expression. In 2011, he joined the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology in Vienna as a group leader. During this time, he established his research program in root systems genetics and focuses on understanding which genes, genetic networks, and molecular processes determine root growth and its responses to the environment. In 2017, he came to the Salk as an Associate Professor in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory. He is also part of the Integrative Biology Laboratory. A recent key interest of Wolfgang is researching and developing plant varieties with enhanced carbon sequestration capabilities for removing CO2 from the atmosphere and thereby counteracting climate change.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Elohim Bello Bello
Postdoctoral Fellow
Elohim obtained his PhD at the National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO-CINVESTAV), Mexico. During his PhD research, he contributed to the identification of genomic regions and genes associated with natural variation in primary root penetrability in Arabidopsis thaliana. His research interests are related to the implementation of multi-omics-based strategies (scRNA-seq, GWAS, MERFISH, scGRNs, etc) to understand how gravitropic and thigmotropic responses modulate root penetration into compacted soils. He seeks to decode the genetic/molecular mechanisms governing natural variation in root system penetrability to enhance rooting depth and CO2 sequestration in crop plants. Elohim joined the Busch lab in 2022 as a part of the Harnessing Plants Initiative at the Salk Institute. He and his colleagues are focused on designing new high-throughput phenotyping platforms and creating root-targeted genetic engineering solutions to develop smart-rooting crops better adapted to land degradation and climate change, which could contribute to transforming and reorienting agricultural systems towards climate-smart agriculture.
Laurence Denis
Postdoctoral Fellow
Originally from France, Laurence obtained her PhD in the Laboratoire Mixte CNRS/Aventis CropScience (UMR 41) in Lyon, France. She studied the biotinylation of proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana and uncovered the molecular mechanisms explaining the compartmentalization of biotin ligase activity in the cell. After two post-docs focusing on cell cycle regulation in mammalian cells (in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and in Sanford Burnham Prebys in San Diego), she decided to go back to plant science studies and joined the Busch lab. As a member of HPI, she will be designing genetic tools to foster steeper roots in plants.
Sanghwa Lee
Postdoctoral Fellow
Originally from South Korea, Sanghwa completed his PhD at UT Austin under the supervision of Enamul Huq in May of 2021. During his PhD studies, he investigated how plants respond to high ambient temperature, termed thermomorphogenesis, due to the importance of global warming. He joined Busch lab at Salk in June of 2021. His main points of interest are: 1) obtaining a higher resolution in root thermomorphogenesis, and 2) identifying novel genes in rice root development. Outside of the lab, Sanghwa loves to play the piano and sing.
Javier Martinez Pacheco
Postdoctoral Fellow
Originally from Cuba, Javier obtained his PhD from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. During his PhD studies, he investigated how plant cell walls are modified under low temperature stress to promote cell elongation and growth. He also researched how different molecular components (lncRNAs, plasma membrane receptors and transcription factors) are involved in Arabidopsis root hairs polar growth under nutrient starvation conditions. He joined the Busch Lab in June 2023 to work under the HPI program on developing longer/deeper roots with more suberin content in Arabidopsis and soybean plants. Javier loves hiking, the beach, cooking and watching movies.
Suyash Patil
Postdoctoral Fellow
Originally from India, Suyash Patil received his PhD at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China in 2019. During his PhD studies, he worked on the molecular basis of plant architecture regulation focusing on the plant hormone auxin and its crosstalk with strigolactones and sucrose signaling. Before joining the PhD program, he worked at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) as a pigeon pea breeder. Patil contributed actively to the development of high-yielding, disease-resistant pigeon pea varieties, and hybrids for different ecologies. Patil worked at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) based in India to work on developing climate-smart dry direct seeding (DSR) friendly rice varieties. He joined the Busch lab in October 2022 with a focus on improving rice root traits for enhanced nutrient uptake and carbon capture capabilities for yield and climate resilience.
Feng Qin
Postdoctoral Fellow
Feng received her Ph.D. from Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2020, where she studied flowering time and seed ageing in Arabidopsis. After one post-doc in Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, she decided to go back to plant science studies and joined the Busch lab in November of 2022. Her interest here is how roots respond to stresses and regulation of the meristem under stresses. Outside the lab, she likes hiking, jogging, watching movies and making friends.
Sarah Raffan
Postdoctoral Fellow
Sarah moved from England to join Salk in January 2023. She completed her undergraduate degree in biology at the University of Bristol where she focused on fungal natural product synthesis and synthetic biology. Sarah then went on to complete her PhD at Rothamsted Research (with the University of Bristol) under the supervision of Professor Nigel Halford and Professor Keith Edwards. Her research focused on amino acid reengineering in wheat and utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 to generate wheat lines with a low acrylamide forming potential. Following her PhD, she completed her first postdoc trialing these genome-edited wheat lines in the field. This work was concurrent with, and instrumental in, the change in the regulations regarding use of genome editing in agriculture in England. Sarah joined the Busch lab as a postdoctoral fellow working in the Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI) project where she aims to use her expertise in wheat genetics to generate elite wheat germplasm with improved root traits and increased carbon sequestrations capabilities.
Charlotte Rambla
Postdoctoral Fellow
Charlotte is Italian and French, with Spanish and Armenian origins. She completed her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree at the University of Padova in Italy. She did her master thesis at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia at the Center of Desert Agriculture with Prof. Heribert Hirt where she was studying the response of stomata upon Flagellin and ABA treatments in Arabidopsis thaliana. Charlotte received her PhD from The University of Queensland in Australia with Prof. Lee Hickey, where she studied the root system architecture of bread wheat adopting desirable root traits associated with crop yield and yield stability improvement. Her aim was to develop four different configurations of root systems in elite wheat varieties for a diverse panel of environments and soil profiles to build more efficient and resilient crops. Charlotte was awarded the 2022 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum Early Career Award by the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, a program that provides professional development opportunities for women wheat researchers in the early stages of their career in recognition of scientific excellence and leadership potential.
She joined the Busch lab in November 2022 as a postdoctoral fellow working in the Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI) project. She is currently interested in exploring novel genomic resources for quantitative traits variation using non-invasive high throughput phenotyping methods in wheat. This will help to broaden the genetic base of elite wheat germplasm for higher root biomass and deeper roots to develop more resilient and climate smart wheat varieties with enhanced carbon sequestration capabilities to decrease the CO2 from the atmosphere. Besides science, she loves traveling and exploring new places. She is well-versed in music, plays guitar, likes sailing, and reading at the beach. She also co-founded a podcast called ‘Illuminata’ that highlights the importance of women in agriculture and STEM.
Samsad Razzaque
Postdoctoral Fellow
Samsad received his PhD from the University of Texas in Austin with Tom Juenger, where he explored the ecological and evolutionary genetics of ecotypic divergence in native plants. After finishing his PhD in May 2022, he joined the Busch lab to explore the molecular genetics of root biomass traits and how the decrease/increase of this trait value impacts the whole life history of Arabidopsis and rice.
Research Scientists
Charlotte Miller
Research Scientist
Charlotte recently moved to San Diego from England where she worked at the John Innes Centre in Norwich. During her PhD her research was aimed at understanding the genetic regulation of stem mechanical strength is Brassica species and Wheat. Her post doctoral research was focused towards the genetic control of seed size and oil content in Brassica napus. In the Busch lab she will be exploring natural variation in several species to understand root growth. Outside of the lab she loves to play the piano and guitar and have recently taken up ceramics! Charlotte also enjoy cycling, hiking and spending as much time as possible at the beach.
Shree Pariyar
Sr Research Scientist
Shree is originally from Nepal and did his undergraduate studies at the Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal. Shree received his PhD from the University of Bonn, Germany, in collaboration with CIMMYT International. During his PhD studies, his work focused on breeding resistant genes into wheat to increase yields by combining genomic, statistical, and molecular approaches. Shree has extensively investigated the genetic diversity of wheat, identified QTLs (GWAS) linked to Soil-Borne Pathogens (nematodes and fusarium crown rot) resistance, and validated their role in host-parasitism. During his postdoctoral training at Forschungzentrum Juelich (Research Centre Juelich), his research focused on breeding ideotype root traits (larger and deeper roots) into crop plants. He has also contributed to developing phenotyping modalities to understand the dynamics of plant-microbe interaction non-invasively. In 2022, Shree joined the Busch lab as a Senior Research Scientist and leads the phenotyping team. Shree’s key interests are understanding the natural variation of crop plants and the development of more resilient crop varieties with enhanced carbon sequestration capabilities for removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Outside of work, Shree likes to engage with society and participates/organizes social events. Shree enjoys cycling, hiking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family!
Matthieu Platre
Staff Scientist
Originally from France, Matthieu obtained his PhD at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon in 2017. He was part of the cell signalling and endocytosis group mentored by Yvon Jaillais. During his PhD, he analyzed membrane electrostatics organization in plant cells and its role in cell-signaling and development. His main scientific question is how plant adapt to their environment. Matthieu joined the Busch’s lab in order to decipher the molecular gene network related to plant nutrition.
Ashish Rajurkar
SR RESEARCH SCIENTIST
Ashish received his PhD from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India, while collaborating with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, and with Duke University, USA. During his PhD. research, he was able to identify and map consistent QTLs for root traits and yield under drought. He was also involved in developing thicker and deeper drought-resilient root lines in Rice under target rainfed environments in India. After these discoveries, he moved to the United States to continue his root research. During his post-doctoral study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ashish studied root system size and distribution in Maize under nitrogen-deficient conditions. He also looked at how to best utilize large-scale Minirhizotrons, a multimodality phenomics approaches to phenotype root traits in field-based settings, and how to better understand the functional consequences of nutrient uptake. He then moved to the University of Missouri, Columbia to study Switchgrass, a promising bioenergy crop, and how it could be adapted to different environmental conditions with diverse root systems. Ashish has an interest in climate-smart agriculture and will be working on Soybean and Canola. He will be studying their root traits in hopes of increasing root depth, increasing soil carbon, improving soil health, and maximizing the water storage potential of soils.
Michel Ruiz Rosquete
Research Scientist
Michel graduated as a biochemist from Havana University, Cuba. His career developed mostly in Europe where he obtained a Ph.D. degree from the BOKU University of Vienna with a thesis on the roles of auxin as a key determinant of lateral root directional growth. He then moved to California with a postdoctoral research project on post-Golgi trafficking under the supervision of Georgia Drakakaki, at UC Davis. He joined the Salk Harnessing Plant Initiative in September 2019 as part of an effort to identify and characterize factors associated with natural variations in the root system architecture of different species. He loves to travel and learn new languages.
Gonzalo Villarino
Research Scientist
Gonzalo earned his PhD from Cornell University in 2014. He then joined the Plant & Microbiology Dept. at NC State University to study ovule development. For his second postdoc he joined the MCDB Dept. at Yale to study epigenetic and DNA replication in Arabidopsis as well. Gonzalo joined the Busch Lab in 2019 as a part of the HPI initiative at Salk. He is very interested in understanding the molecular mechanism of root development.
Managers & Specialists
Elizabeth Berrigan
Bioinformatics Analyst I
Elizabeth has a master’s in physics from the University of Chicago where she studied the relationship between hydrodynamics and string theory. As an undergraduate, she spent time at MIT studying the time evolution of entanglement entropy using the holographic principle in a system approaching equilibrium to understand how different quantum subsystems are correlated over time with Professor Hong Liu. After her master’s she went home to New Hampshire and worked on a farm and at a community art center that sold sustainably-made crafts. She is excited to be in the Busch lab using her quantitative skills to serve HPI’s goals. She is interested in developing deep learning pipelines for image analysis of roots in crops and using machine learning techniques for data analysis. She is at the greenhouse in Encinitas working alongside the phenotyping team as a bioinformatics analyst I. When she isn’t phenotyping roots, Elizabeth is tutoring math and physics or enjoying sustainable crafts such as wood-burning and making botanical dyes. She loves the outdoors.
Shane Hunt
Greenhouse Operations Manager
Shane received his BS degree in Environmental Science from PLNU. Upon graduating and after living in Southern California for his entire life, Shane moved east to work as a research associate at NYU Langone studying angiogenesis in zebrafish. After two years of research, he decided that he wanted to work in the food and sustainability field, and found Gotham Greens; an urban hydroponic grower that set out to provide year-round fresh produce grown in large cities. After a year in New York City, Shane moved with Gotham Greens to Providence, RI to commission and manage the facility of a 2.3-acre state-of-the-art greenhouse. After 5 years of Northeast winters, Shane headed back home to San Diego to manage Salk’s greenhouse operations, and enjoy the ocean without squeezing into a 5 mil wetsuit. In his free time, Shane enjoys surfing, woodworking, and spending time with his dog.
Dharmendra Singh
CROPS TRANSFORM PROJECT MANAGER
Dharmendra Singh has a PhD from Pennsylvania State University, where he studied the function of a plastoglobuli localized protein in plant physiology and defense against biotic and abiotic stress in the apple and Arabidopsis. He did a postdoc fellowship at Cornell, where he identified plant defense-associated kinase proteins using large-scale protein-protein interaction. As a postdoctoral fellowship at Noble Foundation, he studied plant defense against viral and bacterial pathogens in sorghum, cassava, and tomato. As a global discovery pathologist for Solanaceae at HM Clause (Limagrain), his work involved discovering and deploying genes against several pathogens of tomato, pepper, and tomatillo. He joined the Michael lab in 2022 as a CRoPS Translation Project Manager. Singh is developing strategies and managing a translational team to validate gene function in several crops for improving their carbon sequester potential.
Lin Wang
Bioinformatics Analyst II
Lin received her PhD degree in Biological Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, MS and BS degrees in Geography in China. Her previous work was utilizing machine learning and remote sensing for plant phenotyping, as well as using environmental information and crop models to predict crop yield. Lin joined the Busch lab in September of 2022 as part of the Harnessing Plants Initiative team. Her interest is high-performance computing for image processing, genomics, and biological data analysis and modeling. Outside of the office, she enjoys reading, cooking, and hiking.
Kay Watt
HPI Program Manager
Kay received her PhD in Genetics from the University of California, Davis where she studied the genetic basis of terminal drought resistance in the global subsistence crop chickpea. Post-graduate school Kay worked as a strategic analyst with an international vegetable seed company and founded a successful California cannabis breeding program. Kay is a former Peace Corps volunteer and Fulbright fellow. As Program Manager of HPI, she works alongside the Project Managers to build capacity and resources, track, align and facilitate projects, and deliver science to partner / downstream external organizations. Her passions include sustainability, climate change mitigation, and team building. Outside of Salk, you can find her at the park with her Irish Wolfhound, at an art museum, or in a botanical garden.
Kristen (Runge) Wertz
Lab Coordinator
Kristen is a San Diego native who received her BS in Biology from California State University San Marcos. After completion of her BS she went on to receive her Single Subject Teaching Credential in Life Sciences, also from California State University San Marcos. Kristen then spent 2 years as a high school teacher in San Diego. During her summers off from teaching she interned at NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and San Francisco State’s Estuary and Ocean Science Center, studying the genetics of marine organisms. She then left the teaching profession and joined the Salk Harnessing Plants Initiative in October 2019. Kristen started as a Research Assistant, working to identify and characterize factors associated with natural variations in the root system architecture of different species. After about 3 years as a Research Assistant, she then transitioned to the role of Lab Coordinator. Outside of the lab Kristen enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with her family.
Research Assistants
Angel Ai-Perreira
Research Assistant I
Angel was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii. She then moved to Tacoma, WA where she received her BS in Biology along with two minors in Biophysics and Mathematics from the University of Puget Sound. Before coming to Salk, she worked as a pediatric medical assistant back in her hometown. She joined the Busch lab in November 2022 as part of the CRoPS phenotyping team working at Salk’s Encinitas greenhouse site. Angel is also passionate about marine conservation and bridging the gap and knowledge disparities between Native/Indigenous communities and their presence in higher-education STEM communities. Outside of the lab, Angel can be found weightlifting, cooking, baking, and at the beach enjoying the sun and waves.
Petra Banuet
Research Assistant I
Petra received a BS in Biological Sciences, with an emphasis in Ecology and Evolution, at the University of California, Merced. Here she gained experience in research, field, and laboratory sciences. She developed a passion for conservation and found herself in the world of plant biology to strive to become a part of a solution for global environmental issues. Petra joined the Busch Lab in July of 2023 and spends her time working at Salk’s Greenhouse site as a part of the CRoPS field team for the Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI). During her free time, she enjoys baking, videogames, playing soccer, and spending time with her dog.
Jack Bartlett
Research Assistant I
Originally from Los Angeles, Jack received his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Connecticut. At UConn, Jack studied population differentiation and plasticity in Pelargonium scabrum as it related to various climatic conditions. In the summer of 2022, following his graduation, Jack researched the population distribution ofAsplenium platyneuron and genes related to its capacity for invasion at the University of Vermont. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Busch lab in October of 2022 as part of the Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI) team researching genes involved in the development of periderm in Arabadopsis thaliana. Outside of research, Jack enjoys playing guitar, cooking, and hiking, where he loves learning about plants and animals native to the area.
Lucas Funaro
Research Assistant I
Originally from Brazil, Lucas earned a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara. There, he first started working with plants as a volunteer for the UCSBlooms project. He later joined the Hodges Lab studying the genetic basis of alpine-adapted traits in Aquilegia as well as the Mazer Lab looking at the effects of drought on the architecture and phenology of Clarkia. In addition, Lucas worked as a greenhouse assistant taking care of both research and teaching plant collections on campus. After graduating college, he joined the Busch Lab in July 2023 as part of the HPI team where he works with soybean, canola, and Arabidopsis thaliana. Outside of the lab, Lucas loves to dance hip hop and Jazz-Funk, go on hikes, and travel.
Melissa Baez
Research Assistant I
Born and raised in San Diego, Melissa obtained her BS in Cell and Molecular Biology from San Diego State University in 2022. After completing an internship in the Cell Biology department of the local biotech company, Cibus, she gained further interest in genetics and molecular cloning for plant species. She joined Salk in January 2022 and works on the HPI Deep Rooting team, where she is responsible for genotyping and phenotyping, as well as running a “Transplanta” screening of mutant Arabidopsis thaliana In the future, she aspires to attend grad school and gain further experience in molecular techniques, as well as possibly study microbe-interactions with plants. In her free time, she enjoys going to concerts, baking pastries and playing Galaga at Dave and Buster’s.
Lukas Brent
Research Assistant II
Lukas moved down to San Diego from the east SF Bay Area and earned his BS in Biology from San Diego State University in 2019. He developed an interest in plant biology during his undergraduate studies and joined the Busch Lab in October of 2019. Outside of the lab he enjoys activities like mountain biking, running, snowboarding, and visiting new places.
Hannah Carrillo
Research Assistant I
Hannah received her BS in Biology in May 2019 from San Diego State University, focusing on pre-medicine classes while also working as a medical assistant for special needs children. After completion of her B.S., she went on to receive her MS in Biology at Point Loma Nazarene University, where she turned her focus to plants and their anatomy and physiology. During her time as a teaching and research assistant for plant biology labs at PLNU, she developed a passion for understanding how college students’ view climate change, and delved into the actions they are willing to take to mitigate its effects for her thesis work. Hannah then joined the Busch lab in January 2022 as part of the CRoPS phenotyping team working at Salk’s Encinitas greenhouse site, where she helps analyze root structure architecture using various phenotyping methods. Outside of work you can find her taking her two Australian shepherds to local beaches, hiking, trying new restaurants around San Diego, tending to her houseplants, and cooking.
Kimberly Echegoyen
Research Assistant I
Kimberly received her bachelor’s in Ecology and Evolution from the University of California, Santa Barbara in September 2021 before moving to San Diego. During her time at UC Santa Barbara, she worked in the Mazer lab assisting with their research on adaptive evolution in Nemophila menziesii as an undergraduate assistant and worked for the Biology Department as a laboratory assistant. She joined the Busch Lab in May 2022 as part of HPI’s plant phenotyping team. She also has a passion for conservation and marine biology and aspires to earn a graduate degree in the future. In her spare time Kimberly can be found climbing, running, and hiking.
Juan Gonzalez
Research Assistant I
Originally from Ridgeway, Virginia, Juan obtained his BS in Environmental Horticulture and Crop/Soil Sciences from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2022. After completing undergraduate research at Virginia Tech, Chicago Botanic Garden, and CoverCress, he moved to San Diego, California to further pursue plant genetics research. He joined the Salk Institute in May 2022 and works in the HPI Deep Rooting team. Outside of the lab, he can be found traveling, listening to music, and constantly reflecting.
Natalie Gonzalez
Research Assistant I
Natalie is originally from the Imperial Valley and moved to San Diego to obtain her bachelor’s in Environmental Systems, with a focus in ecology, behavior, and evolution, from UC San Diego. After graduating in 2019, she worked in conservation and habitat restoration for 2 years at a zoo and botanical garden where she gained a passion for plants. She joined the Busch lab and began working with the deep rooting team in January of 2022. Outside of Salk, Natalie can be found tending to her garden and chickens or hanging out with her two cats, Luna and Winnie.
Sean Jarrell-Hurtado
Research Assistant I
Born and raised in San Diego, Sean received his B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity from U.C Davis. Before coming to Salk he studied intertidal microinvertebrates at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and spent summer field seasons surveying cactus communities in the Sonoran desert of Northern Mexico. Currently, Sean is using cloning to help validate Single-Cell RNA analysis of genes involved in periderm cell development within Arabidopsis roots. He is also helping investigate periderm development in Pennycress and is highly interested in studying the transcriptional landscape of the plant’s root system in greater detail. Outside of learning at Salk, Sean loves to drum! He is currently having a blast playing with local Taiko and Samba groups.
Taylor Mazur
Research Assistant I
Taylor earned her BS in Cognitive Science from the University of California, Davis in March of 2020. During her time in college, Taylor interned at the UC Davis Medical Center’s MIND Institute, where she assisted with research on a genetic disorder called 22Q11.2. Taylor also interned for a lab in the UC Davis Engineering Department that worked with graduate students on motor learning research. After graduating, Taylor moved back home to San Diego and began working at a DNA Sequencing start-up company called Ultima Genomics. At Ultima Genomics, Taylor was part of the Enzyme Development team where she created and tested different mutant polymerases. After working in the biotech industry for three years, Taylor decided to make a career change and follow her passion for plants. Taylor joined the Busch Lab in June of 2023 and she is now researching root growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. Outside of work, Taylor enjoys taking care of her many plants, doing yoga, and spending time with her friends and family.
Erica McCoy
Research Assistant I
Ethnically Laotian and Californian, born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. From early encounters with enriching plant exhibitions throughout Arabia and Africa, a passion for the preservation, restoration, and safeguarding of our natural was cultivated. This fervor fueled by formative experience ignited a lifelong commitment to being part of the solutions our planet needs. Furthering this journey led her to earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental science with emphasis on Restoration and Conservation Ecology at the University of San Francisco. During her education she honed on the understanding of the delicate balance between nature and human impact, gaining invaluable insights into the urgent need for action. The path towards becoming an active contributor to environmental solutions brought her to the role of Research Assistant I within the Phenotyping Team at the Busch Lab at the Encinitas location, where she finds herself at the heart of innovation, working passionately to address one of the most pressing challenges confronting our natural spaces: climate change. She looks forward to continuing her work with Salk as a steward of the environment driven by the unwavering belief that we can make a difference.
Preyanka Mehta
Research Assistant I
Preyanka Mehta is originally from Texas but went to school at the University of Colorado Boulder where she received her BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. While there, she completed an internship on cattle grazing with different drought/rainfall treatments in Boulder’s open space area. Her interest in ecology and fighting climate change grew and she decided to focus more on plant biology and function. Outside the lab, she enjoys hanging out with her cats (Leo and Lucy), painting, hiking, and traveling.
Karyssa Miller
Research Assistant II
Karyssa received her BS degree in Biology from Seattle University where she worked as a lab technician studying Arabidopsis under strict nutrient conditions. She moved home to Long Beach, California where she worked in a COVID-19 diagnostic lab for 2 years before joining the Busch lab in January 2022. Karyssa joined as part of the Harnessing Plants Initiative team where she studies candidate genes that regulate root periderm development. Outside of work Karyssa can be found playing with dogs, volunteering at a cat rescue, and trying new restaurants.
Nolan Mitschke
Research Assistant II
Nolan received his Bachelor’s in Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He worked for CASFS (Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems) on the UCSC campus to develop farming and agricultural skills in closed-loop, agroecologically-intensive organic food systems and was able to provide large amounts of produce to different groups of students that were experiencing food insecurity. Nolan joined the Busch lab in December of 2021 as part of the Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI) team and works primarily at the Encinitas Greenhouse site but is also helping to develop a Typha growing system to assist in the Coastal Plant Restoration project under the HPI Initiative.
Kristine Szeto
Research Assistant I
Kristine received her BS degree in Biochemistry/Cell Biology and Psychology from UC San Diego. Kristine joined the Busch lab in August 2019 and has since been involved in projects pertaining to iron sensing in plants. She recently joined the Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI) team and is interested in learning more about suberin localization and synthesis as well as how root architecture and soil environment affect water uptake in plants. In her free time, Kristine enjoys hiking, swimming, cooking, or hanging out at the beach.
Avery Talgo
Research Assistant I
Avery received her BS in Horticulture with a minor in Botany from Colorado State University in December 2020. During her time at the university, Avery developed a passion for plant biology, and enjoyed volunteering at the CSU greenhouse and conservatory as well as being a part of the plant identification team. She spent a semester abroad studying ecology and plant pathology at Lincoln University on the South Island of New Zealand, where she gained experience working at various remote field sites collecting samples and reviewing such data in the lab. Avery joined the Busch lab in April of 2022 as part of the CRoPS field team working at Salk’s greenhouse site and is thrilled to be a part of HPI where she can continue to learn about plants and how they will help us combat climate change. In their free time, Avery enjoys swimming in the ocean, playing video games, hanging out with their cat, and playing music.
Alejandro Tovar
Research Assistant I
Originally from Fontana, California, Alejandro Tovar graduated from Pomona College in May 2022 where he majored in Biology. During his time at Pomona, he developed a strong interest in conservation, finding ways that the effects of climate change can be mitigated, and wrote his senior thesis on the effects of plastics on platypus populations in Australia. After a break, post-graduation, Tovar moved to San Diego and joined the Busch Lab in October 2022. In the future, he hopes to further his education with a graduate degree involving Conservation Biology and Ecology. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing volleyball, watching TV with his roommates, and trying out new restaurants.
Sara Ye
Research Assistant I
A transplant from the San Francisco Bay Area, Sara received her B.S. in Ecology, Behavior & Evolution from UC San Diego in 2019. During college, she studied the carbon sequestration capacity of mangrove forest peats at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which first kindled her fascination with the ability of plants to store carbon. After graduation, she worked for the National Park Service for two seasons managing the invasive plant populations at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. Sara then joined the Busch Lab in March 2023, where she is excited to harness plant power to combat climate change. Primarily, she is helping validate single-cell RNA-seq data to identify genes related to suberization in Arabidopsis root cells. Besides plants, Sara loves hiking, art, puzzles, and making music with her video game music orchestra.
Lab Technicians
Julia Showalter
Lab Technician II
Born and raised in San Diego, Julia earned her BS in Microbiology from San Diego State University in May of 2021. After earning her degree, she began volunteering at the San Diego Botanic Garden in Conservation and wanted to contribute to the restoration of native plants in local areas. She has always had a passion for the natural world and the small but significant wonders within it. She started her career volunteering in the von Drygalski lab at UCSD where the focus was translational research on hemophilic arthropathy and traumatic bleeding. In May of 2022, she joined the Busch lab at the Salk Institute where she currently focuses on how plants change their nutrient uptake in different environmental conditions under the mentorship of Sanghwa Lee. Her interests are in plant biology and the impact of climate change. In her free time, Julia enjoys exploring the outdoors/hiking, and nature photography of California native plants, wildlife, and pollinators such as butterflies and native bees. She also loves listening to music and spending time with her Siamese cats, Nikki and Davey.
Interns
Yosemite Caputi
Intern
Yosemite is currently pursuing an accelerated bachelor to master’s program in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in Plant Biology at the University of California San Diego. She joined the Harnessing Plants Initiative in 2021 during the sophomore year of her undergrad degree. Now, her thesis focuses on discovering genes for increased root biomass thus higher Suberin concentration in the model Arapdopsis thalianaplant to more efficiently store carbon in root systems and slow global warming.
Kane Wu
Intern
Kane is a recent UCSD graduate and majored in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. He is now pursuing his Master’s degree in plant biology, studying the function of iron in plants and working on the ami-RNA project to identify novel genes that would be useful towards discovering new iron-related pathways and genes. In his free time, he enjoys going out on camping trips, getting food or boba, and trying to get back into learning Japanese.
Lab Assistant
Larry the Robot
Larry the robot is the only Arabidopsis high-throughput seed planting robot in the world. He is also the only crowd-funded robot at the Salk Institute (http://www.salk.edu/robot ). He helps to uncover fundamental principles of root growth regulation and will contribute to save the world. Also, Larry is saving students and postdocs lots of time and boredom. Not surprisingly, he is one of the most popular lab members.