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 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.

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.

Maeve, originally from the Philippines, moved to San Diego and obtained her bachelor’s in Biology from Point Loma Nazarene University in May 2024. While in PLNU, she became part of a research lab to identify the function of the putative gene SSD1 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using CRISPR knockouts. She joined the Busch lab as part of the greenhouse operations team in September 2024. Outside of work, Maeve enjoys watching Korean Shows, learning dances, reading, and catching up with friends.

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.

Shivang Sharma, originally from New Jersey and India, came to the West Coast to attend college at UC San Diego. In 2023, he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in marine biology, as well as with a minor in Japanese studies. During his undergrad, he studied bioinformatics, phylogenetics, and ecology, with the aspiration of using bioinformatics to analyze the behavioral ecology of marine macro-organisms. With an added interest in Japanese language, culture, and the marine research established across the archipelago, he aspires to become a marine researcher in Japan. After graduation, Shivang worked as a bioinformatician for one year at the Gerwick Lab in Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where he analyzed cyanobacterial genomes and created data pipelines for genome mining. In September 2024, he joined the Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative as a Lab Technician to support Salk’s greenhouse operations and gain more hands-on experience with growth systems. He plans to apply for graduate school as a PhD student specializing in marine behavioral ecology. In his downtime, Shivang enjoys bicycling, playing video games, and scuba diving with the hopes of becoming a professional diver in the near future.