2024 symposium committee members

Roly Malaker

Ph.D., Plant Breeding

rm09@tamu.edu

Roly Malaker is a PhD student in Dr. Septi’s lab. She is from Bangladesh. She completed BSc and MSc in Microbiology and worked as a researcher in a clinical microbiology laboratory. Her current research is focusing on improving thermotolerance in major crops through genome editing. One of the goals of her research is to improve high night time temperature tolerance in US elite rice varieties.

Mason Marshall

Ph.D., Horticultural Sciences Department

masonmarshall@tamu.edu

Mason Marshall is a Ph.D. student in the Horticultural Sciences Department under the direction of Dr. Michael A. Arnold. His research focuses on the diversity and overwintering habits of Ratibida columnifera (Nutt.) Wooten & Standl., a native wildflower found throughout the United States. Due to the extreme phenotypic variation expressed in this species, the potential for a breeding program is great. A goal of this project is to produce new R. columnifera cultivars that are suitable for growth in the south-central United States.

Luke whiteley

M.S. student, Plant Breeding

luke.whiteley@ag.tamu.edu

Luke Whiteley is a MS student of plant breeding in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences under the direction of Dr. Amir Ibrahim. His primary research is focused on identifying QTLs associated with leaf rust resistance and end-use quality in hard red winter wheat. His secondary research focus is on wheat root exudation behaviors under cyclic drought and their influence on soil microbiomes.

Kate Costello

Ph.D., Plant Breeding

kmc21227@tamu.edu

Kate Costello is a Ph.D. Student in the Soil and Crop Sciences Department under the direction of Dr. John Cason. She received her MS in Plant Pathology from the University of Georgia while working with Dr. Soraya Bertioli in the Wild Peanut Lab. At TAMU, her research is focused on breeding wild and cultivated peanuts in order to increase the drought tolerance and oil content of peanuts for use as biofuel.

Himabindhu Badavath

M.S. student, Plant Breeding

k00504141@tamu.edu

Himabindhu Badavath is a master’s student in the Soil and Crop Sciences department under the supervision of Dr. David M. Stelly. Her current research focuses on the Chromosome segment substitution lines in cultivated Cotton [revolutionizing crop genetic improvement in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) through the establishment of BC5-derived multiple chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs)]. and Molecular marker development.

Ashifa Trisnaputri

M.S. student, MEPS

ccatrisnaputri@tamu.edu

Ashifa Trisnaputri is currently pursuing her MS in Plant Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences, working under the supervision of Dr. Michael Thomson. Her research focuses on the application of CRISPR Cas9 in flax (Linum usitatissimum) and rice (Oryza sativa). Her project in flax aims to improve the oil type and fiber type traits using CRISPR/Cas9. In parallel, her work on rice focuses on the investigation of flowering genes and the heritability of CRISPR/Cas9-induced genetic modifications.