Liza Gautam is a Ph.D. candidate from Kathmandu, Nepal. Currently, she is working in Professor John C. Sedbrook’s lab in the Department of Biological Science at Illinois State University. She completed her Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from Kathmandu University, Nepal, and a Master’s of Science in Biotechnology from Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway. After completing her master’s degree, she worked as an Assistant Research Fellow at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, a leading research station and governmental organization of Nepal.

As a molecular geneticist, Ms. Gautam is currently working on domesticating an oilseed cash cover crop- Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.). Her primary focus is on implementing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology to target multiple genes at different loci to increase seed size, reduce glucosinolate content, and increase drought tolerance in pennycress. She is actively involved in many other projects and has good organizational skills in handling large plant populations and samples. Ms. Gautam has also trained multiple students at the graduate and undergraduate levels. These experiences have enhanced her academic performance, leadership abilities, and professional relationships.

Thesis
“Implementing CRISPR-Cas9 to increase seed size, reduce glucosinolate content and increase drought tolerance in the oilseed winter cover crop Thlaspi arvense (pennycress).”

Doctoral Advisor
Dr. John Sedbrook, IPREFER Co-PD and Professor of Genetics, School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University

Career Aspirations
After completing her Ph.D. and Postdoc work, Ms. Gautam would like to pursue a career in Research and Development at a biotech company and contribute to the welfare of society through outstanding research work.

Victor Gomes’ Doctoral Advisor is IPREFER Co-Project Director Dr. Alex Lindsey of the Ohio State University.

Nikhil Jaikumar is a PostDoc at Illinois State University School of Biological Sciences. He works with our Breeding & Genetics Objective.

Kaveh Javanshirjavid is a Ph.D. student at Southern Illinois University in the Department of Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems. Kaveh is researching the biocontrol of charcoal rot disease in soybeans caused by Macrophomina phaseolina.

Thesis
“Biocontrol of charcoal rot on soybean using Chlonostachys rosea isolates.”

Doctoral Advisor
Dr. Ahmad M. Fakhoury, IPREFER Collaborator & Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University.

Career Aspirations
I am interested in working in industry. I am looking for collaboration with agricultural companies to improve soybean yield by focusing on disease control. My goal is to introduce effective biocontrol agents to control soybean diseases.

Ryan Meyer is a graduate student at Illinois State University who works with our Pennycress Ecosystems Services Objective.

Kathryn Phillips is a PhD candidate in the Bioproducts and Biosystems Science, Engineering, and Management program at the University of Minnesota. She supports the IPREFER Supply Chain Team by working on quantifying the spatially and temporally explicit environmental impacts of integrating winter cover crops into Midwestern agricultural systems. Her research interests include improving approaches like life cycle assessment for modeling complex socio-ecological systems and connecting modeling to policy and decision-making processes. Before joining the University of Minnesota, Kathryn spent two years in Senegal as a Sustainable Agriculture Specialist with the Peace Corps. She earned an Environmental Studies degree from Carleton College, where she first became interested in food systems and their various environmental and social impacts.

Thesis
To be determined.

Doctoral Advisor
Dr. Tim Smith, IPREFER Supply Chain Development Objective Collaborator & UMN Bioproducts and Biosystems Science, Engineering, and Management.

Career Aspirations

Kathryn aims to build a career in research, either in academia or outside of it. Her goal is to use her education to reduce and reverse the negative environmental impacts of production and supply chains.

Lucas Roberts is a fourth-year Ph.D. graduate research assistant in the Applied Plant Sciences program at the University of Minnesota. Through working with UMN's soybean breeding program, his project focuses on developing new varieties for a winter annual intercropping system. Previously, he earned a master's degree in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois. Currently, he is part of the officer team for the APS graduate student club and helps organize UMN's annual Plant Sciences Symposium.

Thesis
"The Genetics and Physiology of Soybeans Traits Relevant to Pennycress Intercropping Systems."

Doctoral Advisor
Dr. Aaron Lorenz, IPREFER Breeding & Genetics Objective Collaborator & Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota

Career Aspirations

Lucas' career goal is to be an industry plant breeder.

Rashmi Dangol was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. Rashmi graduated with a Masters degree from Illinois State University in May 2024. Her thesis, Performance of Pennycress in Some Illinois Cropping Systems, will provide Illinois agriculture with an important pennycress reference work. Following her May 2024 graduation, Rashmi will start a Ph.D. program at Texas A&M University.

While a graduate student, Rashmi worked in IPREFER collaborator Dr. Nicholas Heller’s lab. She previously received her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the Agriculture and Forestry University (Nepal). After that, she worked as an instructor for teaching and training higher secondary level education in the Nepal government

Rashmi started her graduate program in the summer of 2022 at ISU pursuing research under the supervision of IPREFER collaborator Dr. Nicholas Heller. She has been working on a project related to a pennycress oil system study and designed to optimize pennycress production for its commercialization as a high-yielding winter cash cover crop. Her research evaluates the performance of pennycress in different cropping systems in Illinois.

Thesis
"Performance of Pennycress in Some Illinois Cropping Systems"

Thesis Advisor
Dr. Nicholas Heller, IPREFER collaborator in the IPREFER Agronomy / Crop Management Objective.

Career Aspirations
After her graduation, Ms. Dangol would like to work in research and development in collaboration with Agri-companies, where she can utilize her skills and techniques learned from university study to improve agronomic performance and contribute to productivity and sustainability, ensuring global food security.

Dr. Esfahanian served on the IPREFER Breeding & Genetics Objective from Aug. 2019 to Jan. 2021 while a graduate student at Illinois State University under the mentorship of IPREFER Co-Project Director Dr. John Sedbrook. Dr. Esfahanian is currently a Post Doc in the Moi Exposito-Alonso lab at Stanford University's Carnegie Institution for Science (Plant Biology).

Aaron Hauger is a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (College of Education & Human Development) who works with our Outreach - Extension - Education Objective. His works focuses on the evaluation of our IPREFER Undergraduate Internships (Integrated Plant Systems – Undergraduate Research Experience)

Cody Hoerning (he/him/his) completed his graduate work in January 2022 as a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. His research involves investigating soybean cyst nematode development on the new oilseed crop pennycress. Throughout this work, he has been an advocate for agricultural research funding and implementing continuous living cover on Midwest agriculture. In addition to the work he has done academically, he has been involved in the community throughout college, where he has advocated for affordable housing, public safety reform, and food security. Cody has served the University of Minnesota as a community liaison to address issues with off-campus student renters and has served on a local neighborhood organization board for five years. Cody is also committed to the interscholastic community and spends many nights and Saturdays officiating high school and NCAA football. In his free time, Cody enjoys spending time with family, traveling to National Parks, and staying active.

Thesis
"Evaluating the Development of Soybean Cyst Nematode on Pennycress"

Doctoral Advisors
Drs. Senyu Chen, IPREFER Collaborator and Professor, UMN Southern Research and Outreach Center Dr. Donald Wyse, UMN Agronomy and Plant Genetics

Career Aspirations
I am a passionate agricultural scientist with an ambition to work as a plant science researcher within an industry or regulatory setting. I wish to investigate research relevant to new agricultural product development or the regulations governing food production with an organization committed to agricultural sustainability and reducing the environmental footprint of our food system.

Brice Jarvis was part of the IPREFER Breeding & Genetics Objective from 2019 to 2021.

Nasib Koirala is a second-year Master's student and a graduate research associate in the Horticulture and Crop Science Department at The Ohio State University. Nasib got his undergraduate degree in B.S. Agriculture from the Agriculture and Forestry University (Nepal). Currently, he is working on a project related to the study of novel seed treatment in oilseed pennycress. This has allowed him to learn about seed treatments including, seed pelleting and testing germination of seeds. Also, he has gained some hands-on experience in field crop research.

Thesis
"Assessment of seed pelleting effects on agronomic characteristics of Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.)"

Thesis Advisor
Dr. Alex Lindsey, IPREFER CoProject Director in the IPREFER Agronomy / Crop Management Objective.

Career Aspirations
After graduation, Nasib wants to continue his studies and go for a Ph.D. program.

Danny Marchiafava is a Master's students at Illinois State University (School of Biological Sciences) who works with our Breeding & Genetics Objective.

Shahriar Mahmud served on the IPREFER Breeding & Genetics Objective from 2020-2022  while a graduate student at Illinois State University.

Matthew Ott completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in January 2022 with the thesis Improving Agronomic Traits in Pennycress and Camelina. Dr. M.David Marks, IPREFER CoProject Director (Breeding & Genetics Objective) & UNM Professor Plant and Microbial Biology served as his doctoral advisor.  Matthew has taken a position at the University of Minnesota where he will be "100% focused on camelina breeding."

Leo Rocha completed his  PhD in Plant Pathology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2022, and continued on at the University as post-doc researcher in 2023. His research projects focus on plant-microbe interactions and management of nematodes and other soil-borne diseases, with an additional background in weed science and herbicide resistance. Leo is currently employed in industry as a field research scientist.

Thesis
"Improving management of soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines): from field practices to next-generation sequencing approaches."

Major Professors: IPREFER Collaborators Dr. Ahmad Fakhoury and Dr. Jason Bond.

Dr. Sparks served on the IPREFER Outreach - Extension - Education Objective from Aug. 2019 to May 2021 while a graduate student at Illinois State University. Dr. Sparks is currently a Post Doc researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Zenith Tandukar is a Ph.D. candidate in the Applied Plant Sciences graduate program at the University of Minnesota. He recently finished the third year of his Ph.D. in pennycress breeding and genetics and is looking forward to defending his dissertation focused on understanding the genetic basis of seed size and seed composition-related quantitative traits.

Zenith has led multiple first applications of advanced genetic and genomic techniques and technologies to create genomic and genetic resources for the pennycress research community at large. As a graduate student, he was awarded the MnDRIVE Global Food Ventures Fellowship and the Hueg-Harrison Fellowship to support his graduate studies. He was recently recognized as an Encompass Fellow by Bayer Crop Sciences.

Thesis

Advancing food production and sustainability in Minnesota agriculture with high yielding and high oil pennycress.

Doctoral Advisor

Dr. Jim Anderson, IPREFER Collaborator, Breeding & Genetics Objective

Career Aspirations

In the short term, Zenith is looking forward to pursuing a career in research and development in industry in the agriculture and biotechnology sector upon graduation. In industry, he wants to help optimize the ideas of today and innovate the ideas of the future to help increase agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. Zenith's long-term vision is to bring these innovative ag technologies to Nepal and other developing countries like it to help uplift farmers from poverty and work towards zero hunger for all.

Mujen (Jack) Wang is a graduate student at Illinois State University (Hydrogeology) who works with our Pennycress Ecosystems Services Objective.

Dalton WIlliams was part of the IPREFERBreeding and Genetics Objective team from Aug. 2019 to May 2020 while a graduate student at Illinois State University.

Bethany Wohrley graduated with a Master's degree from Illinois State University Department of Agriculture (Thesis: Thesis: Pennycress Establishment in Response to Management of Corn Residue and Harvest Date). With IPREFER, Bethany worked with our Agronomy/Crop Management Objective.