Current Members |
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Hui-Ling (Sunny) Liao, Supervisor
Assistant Professor of Microbial Ecology (Fall 2016- Present) E-mail: [email protected]; Office phone: 850-875-7198 (Liao Profile) Chih-Ming (Jimmy) Hsu Research Scientist E-mail: [email protected] ; Lab phone: 850-875-7197 Jimmy is involved in diverse projects running in the lab. His major is Entomology. Besides a bug lover, he is very good at next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, including DNA/RNA co-extraction, library preparation for NGS. Currently he trains the new joined lab members to preform NGS. He also maintains hundreds of cultures and performs soil bioassay for different lab projects. Apart of his main interests is to share the knowledge and skill of oyster mushroom cultivation to the community in state of Florida through workshop leading. |
Vijay Verma
Ag/Food Scientist-II From August 2021-Present [email protected] (850)875-7197; (850) 339-0460 Google Scholar Vijay joined the lab as biological scientist in August 2021 and have a PhD in Botany with specialization in mycology and plant pathology from Banaras Hindu University, India. His PhD explores the microbial endophytes of Neem plant, focusing on microbial diversity and distribution of endophytes across biomes, plant phylogeny and host tissues. Vijay’s broad area of research interest is in mycology, plant-microbes interactions and microbiome engineering. Besides expertise in microbiology and mycology, Vijay also have hands on experience in next generation bioinformatics tool and big data analysis. Vijay did four postdocs previously; Technical University of Dortmund, Germany and Texas A & M University, USA were amongst them, with quite remarkable findings. Apart from his continued publication track records, Vijay also served as Editor for the book ‘Advances in Endophytic Research’ available with Springer Inc. Vijay’s present research interest is in plant microbiome, and more precisely he is interested in deciphering plant signal transduction responsible for shaping associated microbiomes. He would like to address the most complicated nexus of symbiotic microbes of the plants as ‘holobiont’ to dissect organizational principles specially the chemical signaling mechanism driving the plant microbiome assembly. His research here in our lab will be focused on developing innovative, next generation technologies to identify the plant microbes and link their functions to the plant fitness, nutrient cycling, and crop production. |
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Mario A. Lira Junior
Visiting Professor, May 2023 for a year
Email [email protected]; [email protected]
Phone (850) 317-0278
Mario obtained his PhD in 2001 at McGill University, Canada, working on signal exchange between legumes and rhizobia under diverse environmental stresses. Since then he has worked on several aspects of soil microbiology, including rhizobial and plant growth promoting bacteria diversity and efficiency, as well as the effects of low external input agricultural systems on soil microbiota and C and N stocks. Mario joined our lab from this summer for his sabbatical research program. His research here will focus on using genetic tools to better understand some ecological services of pastures.
Visiting Professor, May 2023 for a year
Email [email protected]; [email protected]
Phone (850) 317-0278
Mario obtained his PhD in 2001 at McGill University, Canada, working on signal exchange between legumes and rhizobia under diverse environmental stresses. Since then he has worked on several aspects of soil microbiology, including rhizobial and plant growth promoting bacteria diversity and efficiency, as well as the effects of low external input agricultural systems on soil microbiota and C and N stocks. Mario joined our lab from this summer for his sabbatical research program. His research here will focus on using genetic tools to better understand some ecological services of pastures.