Gregg Howe | |
---|---|
Born | |
Spouse | Darcy (m. 1997) |
Academic background | |
Education | BSc, MSc, biology, East Carolina University PhD, biology, University of California, Los Angeles |
Thesis | An in vivo assay for 2 [mu] plasmid recombination (1987) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Michigan State University |
Gregg Alan Howe is an American plant biologist. He is a University Distinguished Professor and MSU Foundation Professor at Michigan State University. He is also a member of both the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and the Plant Resilience Institute. Howe is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,American Society of Plant Biologists,and National Academy of Sciences.
Howe grew up in Old Saybrook,Connecticut before his family moved to Raleigh,North Carolina when he was nine. [1] Following high school,he completed his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from East Carolina University. Upon completing his undergraduate degree,Howe was selected as the 1984-85 Burroughs Wellcome Research Fellow in biology at East Carolina University while earning his master's degree. [2] He then worked for two years in the plant biotechnology industry before obtaining his Ph.D. in biology from the University of California,Los Angeles. [1]
Following his PhD,Howe conducted postdoctoral work at Washington State University and then joined the faculty at Michigan State University (MSU) in 1997. [1] As a Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology,Howe made a number of seminal contributions to the understanding of biosynthesis,perception,and role in the defence of the plant hormone jasmonate. [3] In 2007,he worked alongside Sheng Yang He to reveal the steps that convert jasmonate's signal into genetic and cellular action. They became the first to identify a receptor for jasmonate and demonstrate that it was vital to protecting healthy tissues in injured plants. [4] Following this discovery,Howe continued to study the molecular evolution of chemical traits that shape plant-insect interactions. [5] Howe continued to work with Yang He throughout his early tenure at the institution. Shortly after receiving the award,the pair published the first study to reveal a molecular view of how plants ward off attacks by insects and pathogens. [6] His research efforts earned him MSU's 2010 Merits Distinguished Faculty Award [3] [7] and an election to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. [5]
During his later tenure at MSU,Howe continued to conduct breakthrough research and earn national recognition. In 2015,Howe was a member of a research team which published the first example of using receptor engineering to fix a disease-vulnerable component of the plant immune system. [8] The following year,his laboratory created a plant (jazQ) for the purpose of challenging the conception that plants could not grow or defend themselves at the same time. His research team randomly mutated thousands of jazQ plants and found that the specific mutation which removed a photoreceptor also allowed the plant to grow faster. This subsequently challenged the idea that defense-growth trade-offs were caused by diversion of limited resources to one process at the expense of another. [9] At the conclusion of the year,Howe was recognized by Thomson Reuters as being among the highest cited researchers of his field. [10] In April 2017,Howe was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Plant Biologists [11] and received the MSU Innovation Center Award for his "pioneering work challenging a long-held assumption that plants cannot both grow and defend optimally at the same time." [12] Within the next two months,Howe was also appointed a University Distinguished Professor and an MSU Foundation Professor. [13]
In May 2020,Howe was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences for making "important contributions to our understanding of the complex biochemical mechanisms through which plants respond to challenges such as insect attack." [14] He was later selected as a Fulbright US Scholar to support his research on the major societal challenges of food security and sustainability in Japan. [15]
While completing his postdoctoral work at Washington State University,Howe married Darcy Rowles in 1997. [16]
Jasmonate (JA) and its derivatives are lipid-based plant hormones that regulate a wide range of processes in plants,ranging from growth and photosynthesis to reproductive development. In particular,JAs are critical for plant defense against herbivory and plant responses to poor environmental conditions and other kinds of abiotic and biotic challenges. Some JAs can also be released as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to permit communication between plants in anticipation of mutual dangers.
Simon Asher Levin is an American ecologist and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the director of the Center for BioComplexity at Princeton University. He specializes in using mathematical modeling and empirical studies in the understanding of macroscopic patterns of ecosystems and biological diversities.
Nina Vsevolod Fedoroff is an American molecular biologist known for her research in life sciences and biotechnology,especially transposable elements or jumping genes. and plant stress response. In 2007,President George W. Bush awarded her the National Medal of Science,she is also a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences,the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,the European Academy of Sciences,and the American Academy of Microbiology.
R. Michael Roberts is an American biologist who is the Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Animal sciences and Biochemistry at the University of Missouri. He is a founding co-editor of the Annual Review of Animal Biosciences,first published in 2013.
Matt Kaeberlein is an American biologist and biogerontologist best known for his research on evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of aging. He is currently a professor of pathology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Samuel L. Stanley Jr. is an American educator and biomedical researcher. He was the President of Michigan State University from 2019 until November 2022,and he was the President of Stony Brook University from 2009 to 2019. Stanley is one of the founding directors of the Midwest Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research.
Angela K. Wilson is an American physical,theoretical,and computational chemist. She is currently the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the department of chemistry of Michigan State University. At Michigan State University,she also serves as the Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives in the College of Natural Sciences,and as Director of the MSU Center for Quantum Computing,Science,and Engineering (MSU-Q),a newly formed center at MSU,stemming from MSU's long history in quantum computing research.
Anton Lang was a Russian Empire-born American biologist and a plant physiologist. He was born in Saint Petersburg,his father was Georg Lang,a famous Russian Empire scientist and founding father of modern therapeutic therapies. He graduated from the University of Berlin in 1939,majoring in botany. After that,he is working as scientific assistant of Georg Melchers at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin-Dahlem. The cooperation between Anton Lang and Georg Melchers proved extremely fruitful and continued at the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen until 1949,when Anton,his wife Lydia,and his mother emigrated to North America. He was the recipient of a Lady Davis fellowship in the genetics department of McGill University,then a visiting professor at Texas A&M University. In the fall of 1950 Anton moved to Caltech,where he became a research fellow with James Bonner. In 1952 Anton accepted a faculty position in the botany department at UCLA. In 1959 Anton moved from UCLA back to Caltech,this time as professor of biology and director of the Earhart Plant Research Laboratory. In 1964 the Atomic Energy Commission decided to build the Plant Research Laboratory at Michigan State University,and Anton was named its first director. He retired in 1983. Lang was notable,among other things,for a discovery of a new method of forcing a bloom in flowers. Michigan State University established a memorial award in Lang's name - The Anton Lang Memorial Award. Lang was a member of the National Academy of Sciences,a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,the founding director of the Plant Research Laboratory at the Michigan State University,the managing editor of Planta,president of the Society for Developmental Biology,and president of the American Society of Plant Physiologists. Among notable awards Lang received the Stephen Hales Award and the Charles Barnes Life Membership Award of the American Society of Plant Physiologists. In 1965,Anton was elected to the German Academy of Natural Scientists (Leopoldina). In 1981 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow,and in 1982 he was awarded an honorary membership by the German Botanical Society. Anton Lang is a grand uncle of Joseph Brodsky`s only son Andrei.
Jeffrey Marc Wooldridge is an American econometrician. He is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Economics at Michigan State University. Wooldridge is known for his theoretical contributions to the analysis of cross-sectional and panel data.
Aaron M. Ellison is an ecologist,photographer,sculptor,and writer. He retired in July 2021 after 20 years as the senior research fellow in ecology at Harvard University and as a Senior Ecologist at the Harvard Forest. He also served as deputy director of the Harvard Forest from 2018 to 2021. Until 2018,he also was an adjunct research professor at the University of Massachusetts in the Departments of Biology and Environmental Conservation. Ellison has both authored and co-authored numerous scientific papers,books,book reviews and software reviews. For more than 30 years,Ellison has studied food-web dynamics and community ecology of wetlands and forests;the evolutionary ecology of carnivorous plants;the responses of plants and ants to global climate change;application of Bayesian statistical inference to ecological research and environmental decision-making;and the critical reaction of Ecology to Modernism. In 2012 he was elected a fellow of the Ecological Society of America. He was the editor-in-chief of Ecological Monographs from 2008 to 2015,was a senior editor of Methods in Ecology and Evolution from 2018-2021,and since 2021 has been the executive editor of Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Thomas D. Sharkey is a plant biochemist who studies gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere. His research has covered (1) carbon metabolism of photosynthesis from carbon dioxide uptake to carbon export from the Calvin-Benson Cycle,(2) isoprene emission from plants,and (3) abiotic stress tolerance. Four guiding questions are:(1) how leaf photosynthesis affects plant yield,(2) does some carbon fixation follow an oxidative pathway that reduces sugar output but stabilizes photosynthesis,(3) why plants make isoprene,and (4) how plants cope with high temperature.
Michael F. Thomashow (born June 22,1949;Hartford,Connecticut) is an American plant biologist and microbiologist at Michigan State University (MSU) where he holds the titles of University Distinguished Professor Emeritus and MSU Foundation Professor Emeritus. He is a faculty member in the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL)1 and Department of Plant,Soil and Microbial Sciences2.
Beronda Montgomery is a writer,science communicator,and researcher. She recently moved to Grinnell College as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. Prior to Grinnell,Dr. Montgomery served as Michigan State University Foundation Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry &Molecular Biology and of Microbiology &Molecular Genetics. She was also a member of the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory. Her research group investigates how photosynthetic organisms adapt to changes in their environment. Her scholarship extends beyond biology and into studying mentorship and faculty development to develop evidence-based strategies to foster equity and inclusion in academia. Together with Tanisha Williams and other members of the Black Botanists Week organizing committee,Montgomery co-founded and co-organizes Black Botanists Week.
Sheng Yang He is a Chinese-American plant biologist. He was a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University before moving to Duke University in 2020. He has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 2011. He served as President of the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions from 2014 to 2016. Recognized for his research on plant pathology on the molecular level,he was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2015.
Donald Richard Ort is an American botanist and biochemist. He is the Robert Emerson Professor of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he works on improving crop productivity and resilience to climate change by redesigning photosynthesis. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB).
Cheryl Ann Kerfeld is an American bioengineer who is Hannah Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University. She holds a joint position at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her research considers bioinformatics,cellular imaging and structural biology.
Dean DellaPenna is an American plant biochemist. He is a University Distinguished Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University.
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Diane C. Bassham is a plant pathologist and professor at Iowa State University.
Jennifer S. Thaler is an American entomologist who is a faculty member in the Department of Entomology,with a joint appointment in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,at Cornell University in Ithaca,New York. She has expertise in the areas of population and community ecology,plant-insect interactions,tri-trophic interactions,and chemical ecology.