Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center

TPSC at VT is a collaborative community of researchers committed to advancing the sustainable production of food, feed, & biomaterials 🌾🌻 🔬

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Congratulations to the seven TPSC graduate students from the Carneiro, Cladis, Fearer, Gan, and Jelesko Labs for their successful M.S. thesis defenses!

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Congratulations to Dr. Mohammad Monirul Hasan Tipu (Sherif Lab) and Dr. Reza Mazloom (Vinatzer Lab) for their successful Ph.D. defenses!

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Graduate student Yaojie Zheng from the Zhang Lab gave a @vtspes seminar titled "Using High-Throughput Aerial Phenotyping and Machine Learning to Improve Soybean Trait Prediction," detailing field experiments involving 317 soybean lines and multimodal drone data.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Niki McMaster, a research associate in the @SchmaleLab, was named @USWBSI's April Featured Researcher! Since joining the lab 15 years ago, Niki has supported important fusarium head blight research while mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Graduate student Leah Ellis from the Cladis Lab recently presented her research at the National Nutrient Database Conference. Her work seeks to better understand how the prevalence of ultra-processed foods in the diet affects phenolic exposure within a full diet pattern.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

TPSC affiliate Dr. Guillaume Pilot recently visited the Roanoke Valley Governor's School, where students explored plant metabolism by measuring Arabidopsis plants grown in liquid culture subjected to a concentration of toxic amino acids over 4 weeks.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

At the last TPSC Kōrero: Discussion Group, the newest TPSC affiliates Dr. Huijie Gan and Dr. Shabnam Hematian shared presentations about their research.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

On day two of the 2026 Career Exploration Initiative, 12 graduate students and postdocs shared flash talks at @BASFCorporation, toured Elysia Bio, and visited @NC_PSI, where they had the opportunity to attend a career panel and connect with professionals across different roles.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

On day one of TPSC's 2026 Career Exploration Initiative, 10 graduate students and 2 postdocs learned about housing early-stage science companies at First Flight Venture Center and Alexandria LaunchLabs and toured the research facilities at Meiogenix and @Syngenta.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

The Scharf Lab's Bacteriophage Club (and their mascot!) participated in March's Kids' Tech University, where they taught the next generation of scientists about viruses that infect bacteria.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Graduate student Anyelina Mangru from the Badgley Lab gave a @vtspes seminar titled "Microbial community response to varying plant litter inputs," detailing how the quality of plant material shapes microbial communities and influences how carbon is processed and stored in soil.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

The inaugural John McDowell Memorial Lecture celebrated Dr. McDowell’s legacy as a leader in molecular plant-microbe interactions and as a dedicated friend, mentor, and colleague to many at Virginia Tech and around the world. Thank you to all who joined us to honor his impact.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

In March, TPSC’s Graduate Student Organization welcomed @Bayer representative Dr. Noam Eckshtain-Levi to campus. He gave two workshop talks for students and faculty, held a Bayer B4U Mentee meeting and feedback session, and led a Q&A on careers in industry and academia.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

At the 2026 Soybean Breeders Workshop in St. Louis, MO, graduate students from the Zhang Lab (Virginia Claire Lehmann, Yaojie Zheng, and Matheus Granja) presented their research. The workshop featured over 20 talks focused on plant physiology and its advancements in breeding.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Ph.D. candidate Mohammad Monirul Hasan Tipu from the Sherif Lab received a travel award to speak at the 2026 @UF Plant Science Symposium! Mohammad presented his research on decoupling fruit abscission from ripening to manage pre-harvest fruit drop.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Congratulations to TPSC affiliate Dr. Holliday and collaborators on their new @ScienceMagazine paper, “Genomic approaches to accelerate American chestnut restoration,” highlighted in @vtnews!

Read the full article here: https://t.co/VWCdD34yHJ

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

TPSC graduate students Aleks Halili and Sunilda Frias Ramirez gave @vtspes seminars about Aleks's study to characterize how the maize root endosphere varies across diverse accessions, and Sunilda's study in sparse testing and genome prediction.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Graduate student Yikun Zhang and Dr. Jay You received a TPSC seed grant! Their project combines remote sensing, field data, and agroecosystem modeling to uncover how cover crops impact yield, soil carbon, and nitrogen use efficiency in Virginia corn and soybean systems.

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

@ASMicrobiology

[Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Center @VT_TPSC]

Congratulations to TPSC affiliate Dr. Birgit Scharf on being elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology! This prestigious honor recognizes her outstanding contributions to advancing microbiology. Learn more about the 2026 Fellowship Class: https://t.co/Bc8GQIOu5d