Madison is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Shaw lab studying plant cortical microtubule array organization. Outside of lab, she's looking forward to continuing her work with the grad worker’s coalition, gardening, and caring for her pets (one cat, two geckos, fish, and shrimp).

Zoe is a Ph.D. student in the Moyle Lab, broadly interested in the genomics of diversification. For her dissertation, she is investigating the mechanisms and history of fruit color evolution in nightshades (Solanum), with a particular focus on wild Galápagos tomatoes. She uses population genomics and phylogenetic comparative methods to examine this trait evolution across multiple scales. In addition, Zoe enjoys teaching and mentoring student researchers. She says it’s so exciting to see students build their computational skillset and then apply these skills to address biological questions.

Caroline is a member of the Moyle Lab in the EEB program. Her dissertation research explores how environmental factors and geography shape the distribution of trait variation within and among species in North American violets (Viola). She uses field experiments, historical plant records, and comparative methods to explore what drives trait variation spatially and temporally in this genus.

Tyler Frailie is a fifth-year Ph.D. student working with Distinguished Professor Roger Innes. Tyler studies the co-evolution of cereal crops and their fungal pathogens. His research focuses on proteins secreted by fungi into plant cells that function to block host immune responses. In particular, he is studying a subset of these proteins that function as proteases to cleave specific host proteins inside host cells. By studying the conservation of these fungal proteases across species and the conservation of their host targets, he hopes to develop new strategies for engineering durable forms of disease resistance in crops. This in turn will help guide agricultural practices away from heavy reliance on fungicides towards more environmentally sustainable methods. The Heiser Fellowship will allow him to further develop a novel, low-cost, high-throughput method for determining protease target sequences within host plant proteins.