IPREFER Graduate Students, PostDocs, and Fellows

Graduate students make up an important part of our IPREFER research team. Use this page to acquaint yourself with our graduate students, post docs and fellows.

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Carol Kiam Assato
Master’s Student, Illinois State University

Skill Set

  • Microbiology (Bacterial & Yeast Analysis)
  • Pennycress Breeding
  • CRISPR Gene Editing

Expected Graduation
December 2023

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Rashmi Dangol
Master’s Student, Illinois State University

Skill Set

  • Agronomy
  • Experimental design
  • Soil Science
  • Teaching

Expected Graduation
May 2024

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Liza Gautam
Ph.D. Student, Illinois State University

Skill Set

  • CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology
  • Teaching (undergraduates & graduates)

Expected Graduation
2024

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Nikhil Jaikumar
PostDoc, Illinois State University

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Kaveh Javanshirjavid
Ph.D. Student, Southern Illinois University

Skill Set

  • Agronomy
  • Bioanalysis
  • Molecular biology
  • Plant pathology
  • Strategic planning

Expected Graduation
May 2023

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Danny Marchiafava
Master’s Student, Illinois State University

Ryan Meyer

Graduate Student, Illinois State University

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Yesuf Mohammed, Ph.D
PostDoc Associate, USDA-ARS-NCSCRL

Skill Set

  • Cropping systems
  • Soil science
  • Soil fertility and nutrient management
  • Crop diversification and intensification
  • Experimental design
  • Data mining and analysis
Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Kathryn Phillips
Ph.D. Student, University of Minnesota

Skill Set

  • Life cycle assessment
  • Systems thinking
  • Spatial analysis

Expected Graduation
May 2023

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Lucas Roberts
Ph.D. Student, University of Minnesota

Skill Set

  • Plant Physiology
  • High Throughput Phenotyping
  • Quantitative Genetics
  • Genomics

Expected Graduation
July 2024

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Leonardo Rocha
PostDoc Researcher, Southern Illinois University

Skill Set

  • Plant Pathology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Nematology
  • Field/Greenhouse Research Planning & Establishment
  • Disease Resistance Screenings
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Next-generation Sequencing
  • Metagenomics and Metabolomics (RNA-Seq)

IPREFER Alumni: Graduate Students, PostDocs, and Fellows

IPREFER thanks all our project alumni for their contributions and looks forward to them spreading the word about pennycress as a cash cover crop.

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Maliheh Esfahanian
Ph.D. Student, Illinois State University

Graduation
2021

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Aaron Hauger
Ph.D. Student, University of Minnesota

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Cody Hoerning
Ph.D. Student, University of Minnesota

Skill Set

  • Proposal Writing
  • Project Planning
  • Experimental Design
  • Teamwork, Management
  • Leadership, Training
  • Statistics & Data Analysis
  • Technical Writing
  • Public Speaking & Presentations
  • Sustainability
  • Local Government
  • Community Building

Graduation
January 2022

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Brice Jarvis
Massters, Illinois State University

Graduation
2021

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Nasib Koirala
Master's Student, The Ohio State University

Skill Set

  • Designing and conducting field research
  • Seed treatments and seed testing
  • Data management and analysis
  • Communicating science

Graduation
May 2022

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Shahriar Mahmud
Ph.D. Student, Illinois State University

Skill Set
  • Molecular Genetics
  • CRISPR.
Expected Graduation
May 2023.
Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Matthew Ott

Ph.D. Student, University of Minnesota

Graduation

January 2022

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Rachel Sparks
Ph.D. Student, Illinois State University

Graduation
2021

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Zenith Tandukar
Ph.D. Student, University of Minnesota

Skill Set

  • Plant breeding
  • Molecular Genetics
  • Genomics
  • High Throughput Phenotyping

Graduation
January 2022

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Mujen (Jack) Wang
Graduate Student, Illinois State University

Dalton Williams
Masters Student, Illinois State University

Graduation
2020

Isaac Goldman 2021 IPREFER Intern

Bethany Wohrley
Graduate Student, Illinois State University
Graduated May 2022