WATER AND LIFE INTERFACE INSTITUTE
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • Institute Themes & Structure
    • Team
    • Code of Conduct
    • Scientific Advisory Board
    • Contact Us
  • Research
    • Overview
    • Surviving the Solid State
    • Rehydration & Recovery
    • Molecular Engineering
    • Evolutionary Dynamics
    • Integration of Themes
  • Training
    • Overview
  • Careers
  • Outreach
    • Overview
    • Seed Longevity Experiments
    • Tardigrade Hunting
  • Publications
  • Resources

WALII team

WALII operates as a virtual research institute that brings together scientists and trainees from nine institutions across the United States to collaborate and cross-train on nine major projects. Each project is carried out by labs at 3-7 institutions, led by a
​Co-PI from different institutes, and uses a wide range of tools, biological systems, and disciplines.
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Institute Director

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Seung Yon (Sue) Rhee

Senior Staff Scientist, Carnegie Institution for Science
Professor of Biology (by courtesy)
, Stanford University

THEME LeadS

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Thomas Boothby

Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming
Surviving the Solid State Lead

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Christina Walters

Supervisory Plant Physiologist, National Laboratory for Genetic Resource
Rehydration & Recovery Lead

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Alex Holehouse

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University in St. Louis
Molecular Engineering Lead; Project Lead:
Rational design of de novo proteins for desiccation tolerance in cells and organisms
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Robert VanBuren

Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Michigan State University
Evolutionary Dynamics Lead; Project Lead:
Identify conserved and lineage-specific molecular responses to anhydrobiosis

PROJECT LEADS

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Shahar Sukenik

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of California, Merced
Project Lead:
Is glass strength associated with protective capacity?
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Marisa Otegui

Professor of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Project Lead: How do cellular structures change during dehydration to solid-state?
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Margaret Fleming

Assistant Professor of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University
Project Lead:
What are the genetic and metabolic milestones of recovery from desiccation?
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Hugo Tapia

Assistant Professor of Biology, California State University Channel Islands
Project Lead: How does partial re-hydration affect desiccation tolerance?
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Steven Boeynaems

Assistant Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine
Investigator at Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital
Project Lead: Molecular rules of membraneless organelle water responsiveness
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Moises Exposito-Alonso

Staff Associate, Carnegie Institution for Science
Assistant Professor of Biology (by courtesy)
, Stanford University
Project Lead:
Identify genetic determinants underlying desiccation tolerance by mining natural variation in seed germination across A. thaliana populations
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Rose Marks

Postdoctoral fellow, Michigan State University
Project Lead:
Developing the resurrection grass Microchloa caffra as a new system for evolutionary genetics of desiccation tolerance

Administrative team

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Selena Rice

Scientific Coordinator, Carnegie Institution for Science
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Elena Lazarus

Assistant Scientific Coordinator, Carnegie Institution for Science
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STANFORD LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
“WALII operates in part out of the Carnegie Institution for Science's Plant Biology Department located at Stanford University. Stanford sits on the ancestral land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. This land was and continues to be of great importance to the Ohlone people. Consistent with our values of community and inclusion, we have a responsibility to acknowledge, honor, and make visible the University’s relationship to Native peoples.”
National Science Foundation logo.
WALII is funded by NSF DBI grant #2213983
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • Institute Themes & Structure
    • Team
    • Code of Conduct
    • Scientific Advisory Board
    • Contact Us
  • Research
    • Overview
    • Surviving the Solid State
    • Rehydration & Recovery
    • Molecular Engineering
    • Evolutionary Dynamics
    • Integration of Themes
  • Training
    • Overview
  • Careers
  • Outreach
    • Overview
    • Seed Longevity Experiments
    • Tardigrade Hunting
  • Publications
  • Resources