Seed Grants in Action: Research Making an Impact
Since its inception, the Plant Resilience Institute (PRI) Seed Grant program has funded 14 innovative proposals, awarding a total of $139,924 to advance plant resilience research. These high-risk, high-reward projects reflect the creativity and dedication of Michigan State University graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working collaboratively to push the boundaries of plant science. Each project embodies PRI’s mission to address critical challenges in plant resilience, fostering breakthroughs that contribute to sustainable solutions for agriculture and the environment. For more information on the PRI Seed Grant program, view the application protocol here.
Explore the groundbreaking work of our past awardees below, and discover how PRI supports the next generation of plant scientists.
Past Award Recipients
"Unraveling the mechanism of sulfur signaling in plant growth-resilience tradeoffs"
- Huijia Gong (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Genetics and Genome Sciences Program, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute
- Bailey Kleven (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute
"Deciphering Heat Stress Response Regulation in Arabidopsis Through Multi-Gene Targeting"
- Paulo Izquierdo (PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Plant Biology and DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center
- Jenny Schuster (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology Program, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, and Plant Resilience Institute
- Rajneesh Singhal (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Plant Biology
"Developing stable ovule transformation methods in Boechera stricta and Lindernia brevidens"
- Abigail Jensen (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology and Molecular Plant Sciences Program
- Derek Denny (Co-PI), PRI Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Department of Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
- Lauren Stanley (Co-P), NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Department of Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
"Assessing the Effectiveness of Sorghum's Drought Adaptation Strategies Using Mutant Populations"
- Anuradha Singh (PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Resilience Institute
"Cell-Specific Metabolic Remodeling: Mapping C₄ Evolution Through snRNA-seq and Metabolomics in Parallel Intermediate-Rich Lineages"
- Matt Stata (PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
- Beth Holland (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
- Kelem Alamrie (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Plant Biology and MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory
"A transgenic ecological approach to understanding anthocyanin function in a plant defense trait"
- Sylvie Martin-Eberhardt (PI), NSF-GRFP Fellow – Department of Plant Biology, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior Program, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, and Plant Resilience Institute
- Madison Plunkert (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior Program, and Plant Resilience Institute
"Establishing the carnivorous genus Pinguicula (Lentibulariaceae) as a novel model system of plant resilience research"
- Daniel Mok (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, and Plant Resilience Institute
- Ian S. Gilman (Co-PI), NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Departments of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
"Genetic manipulation of isoprene synthase to improve soybean resilience to climate change"
- Mohammad G. Mostofa (PI), Assistant Professor-Fixed Term – MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and Plant Resilience Institute
"Investigating the impact of the biological product on the interaction between soybean and the root-associated microbial community in the presence of drought stress"
- Tri Tran (PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Resilience Institute
- Danielle Hoffmann (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
"Investigating the role(s) of plastoglobules in jasmonic acid biosynthesis and herbivore defense"
- Shannon Donnelly (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute
- Kiara Chalker (Co-PI), Professional Aide – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
- Bailey Kleven (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute
"Unravelling the genetic basis of plant adaptation to hypoxia"
- Hui-Kyong Cho (PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Resilience Institute
"Developing single cell technologies to explore the spatial dynamics of CAM and C4 photosynthesis in Portulaca"
- Ian S. Gilman (PI), NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Departments of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
"Investigating loss of genetic diversity in switchgrass, Panicum virgatum"
- Andrew Bleich (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
"Transcriptional regulation of growth and chemical defense in Arabidopsis thaliana under a bacterial pathogen attack"
- Kangmei Zhao (PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
- Danielle Hoffmann (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
- Jian Yao (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute