Our planet’s surface and all life forms on it are composed mostly of water. Yet, survival at extremely low water content, anhydrobiosis, is essential for organisms across all kingdoms of life. The Water and Life Interface Institute (WALII) studies how life interacts with water from the molecular to the whole organism level across plants, fungi, and animals, considering reduced water across the entire spectrum.

Muscles (red), nuclei (purple), and enlarged lipid droplets (green) are labeled in this tardigrade specimen.
Photo Credit: Thomas C. Boothby

Breaking News

12 March 2026

We are excited to announce the Anhydrobiosis Research, Tools & Techniques Webinar Series, hosted by the Water and Life Interface Institute (WALII)! Join us April 9, 2026 as we kick off this event! Learn more about the series and register here!

11 March 2026
Members of WALII from the Rhee Lab at Michigan State University Ryan Brenner, Aidan Deneen, and Katie Phillips presented this week at Glencairn Elementary School’s Science Night in East Lansing, Michigan. At the WALII booth, students sampled astronaut ice cream, explored resurrection plants, & looked at water bears under a microscope!

23 December 2025
Applications for the 2026 Summer Internship Program are now open! To learn more and apply, click here.

16 October 2025
A new job opening with the Moi Lab at the University of California, Berkeley is available now. To Learn more about it and to apply, Click Here!

8 October 2025
WALII members publish a new study in Cell Systems on how “Protein surface chemistry encodes an adaptive tolerance to desiccation.” Read more about the study here. 

10 September 2025
We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for the inaugural WALII Virtual Symposium, taking place on November 18, 2025. This free, one-day event will bring together researchers across disciplines to explore anhydrobiosis – how life persists without water – from the molecular to the ecosystem scale. 

3 September 2025
The Rhee Lab at Michigan State University is looking to hire a new postdoc position to work on nematodes for desiccation tolerance and plant-pathogenic nematode interactions on both the WALII and C-SPIRIT grants. For more information, visit: https://careers.msu.edu/jobs/research-associate-fixed-term-east-lansing-michigan-united-states-0006e4c8-4317-4ad3-a516-7fc70159ab97