Jessie Uehling
Hi! I’m Jessie Uehling, a new Assistant Professor of Fungal Biology in BPP. I was born in Boise Idaho and after making stops at Humboldt State University (Bachelors/Masters), Duke University (PhD), and UC San Francisco (Post-doc) I am ecstatic to be back in the PNW. Here in BPP I am focused on getting my research lab up and running; teaching Mycology and Computational Population Genomics; curating the OSC Fungal Herbarium; and doing Outreach Education and Service. My lab’s research is focused on understanding how fungal symbioses evolve over time using genomics approaches. We are particularly intrigued lately by using the early diverging Mucoromycota fungi and their ancient, co-evolved Beta-proteobacterial endosymbionts as a system to answer these questions. You can read more about my research on my lab website. I cant think of a better department to join in this endeavor and I look forward to getting to know you all!! - @JessieUehling
Sam Leiboff
My name is Sam Leiboff and I joined BPP in May of 2020. My lab uses quantitative genetics, transcriptomics, network biology, and molecular genetics to explore the way that maize (Zea mays subsp. mays L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) make inflorescences and leaves. I teach BI311 Genetics in the Winter and BDS411 Analysis of Biological Data: Case Studies in the Spring. Find out more at leiboffdoesresearch.github.io!
Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the USDA Plant Gene Expression Center / UC Berkeley, supervised by Prof. Sarah Hake. Before that, I got a PhD in Plant Biology at Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science supervised by Prof. Michael J Scanlon. I’m originally from sunny Southern California and got a BSc in Environmental Sciences with a minor in Forestry at UC Berkeley. - @PlantsOverPants
James Mickley
Hello, I’m James Mickley. I joined BPP in August 2020 as the new Herbarium Curator and an Instructor. As an instructor, I teach Plant Structure, Flora of the Pacific Northwest, and Plants and Humanity. As herbarium curator, I am maintaining our 550,000 specimens of plants, fungi, lichens, and algae from Oregon and around the world. This priceless and irreplaceable collection allows us to look back in time to see where species grew and how that has changed, or even how they have evolved at a molecular level. Together with our herbarium crew and Oregon Flora, we are working to make tools available to access data and images of the entire collection.
I grew up in Pennsylvania, and have spent much of my time botanizing in the Eastern United States. I went to college in Michigan at Kalamazoo College, earned a Master’s at Stony Brook University in New York working on how invasive plant species spread, and then completed my Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut trying to understand what evolutionary forces have caused many plant species to have five-petaled flowers. Most recently, I was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the University of Connecticut studying the effects of forest fragmentation on caterpillar food webs.
I am especially interested in involving students in botanical research and in our herbarium collection, and I place a premium on being an effective mentor and teaching useful skills to all who are interested. Please contact me if you would like to join our team and contribute to our knowledge of the flora of Oregon. - @jgmickley