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 1: surviving the solid state

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​Thomas boothby, theme lead

Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming
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Shahar sukenik, project lead

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

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

THEME 1 TEAM MEMBERS

Current Team Members
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Edie Gollub
Undergraduate Student Researcher
UC Merced

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Kara Hunter
Graduate Research Assistant
​UC Merced
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Dr. Sofia Romero
Postdoc

UC Merced

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Sourav Biswas
Graduate Research Assistant
​Univ. of Wyoming
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Alison Flynt
Graduate Research Assistant
​Univ. of Wyoming
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Silvia Sanchez Martinez
Senior Research Associate
​Univ. of Wyoming
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John Ramirez
Graduate Research Assistant
​Univ. of Wyoming
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Tyler Gonzalez
Graduate Research Assistant
​Univ. of Wyoming
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Emma Meese

​Laboratory Aid
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​Univ. of Wyoming
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Anthony Trent
Undergraduate Student Researcher
​Univ. of Wyoming
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Shraddha KC
Graduate Research Assistant
​Univ. of Wyoming
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Kenny Nguyen

​Graduate Research Assistant

​Univ. of Wyoming
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Annie Walgen
​Research Associate

​​Univ. of Wyoming
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Jacob Loeffelholz
Research Associate

​Univ. of Wyoming

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Maxwell Packebush

​Undergraduate Student Researcher
​Univ. of Wyoming

theme 2: rehydration and recovery

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Christina walters, theme lead

Supervisory Plant Physiologist, USDA-National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation
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sterling field, associate lead

Postdoc, Carnegie Institution for Science
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Margaret FLEMING, project lead

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

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

THEME 2 TEAM MEMBERS

Current Team Members
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Jack Cox
Postbac
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Carnegie Science
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Siavash Heshmati
Graduate Research Assistant
Michigan State Univ.
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Dr. Neusa Steiner​
Professor
​Federal Univ. of Santa Catalina
​​USDA-​NLGRP
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Will Dwyer ​
Research Assistant
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Carnegie Science
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Michael Ozolins​
Graduate Research Assistant
Michigan State Univ.
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Hannah Tetreault
Support Scientist

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​USDA-​NLGRP
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Ava Kloss-Schmidt
Research Assistant
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Carnegie Science
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Lisa Hill
Lab Manager

​USDA-​NLGRP
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Chloe Grabb​
Graduate Research Assistant
​Michigan State Univ.
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Shaima Ibrahim​
Technician
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USDA-​NLGRP

theme 3: molecular engineering

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Alex HOLEHOUSE, theme lead & project lead 

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University in St. Louis
Project:
Rational design of de novo proteins for desiccation tolerance in cells and organisms
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Steven BOEYNAEMS, project lead 

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

THEME 3 team members

Current Team Members
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​Dr. Olivia Maria Silva Carmo
​(as of March 2023)

Postdoc 
Baylor College of Medicine

theme 4: evolutionary dynamics

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Robert VANBUREN, theme lead & project lead

Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Michigan State University
Project:
Identify conserved and lineage-specific molecular responses to anhydrobiosis
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Moises EXPOSITO-ALONSO, project lead 

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

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

THEME 4 TEAM MEMBERS

Current Team Members
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Jenny Schuster
Graduate Research Assistant
Michigan State Univ.
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Anna Pardo
Graduate Research Assistant
Michigan State Univ.

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