NSF CREATE-IGERT Plant Biotechnology Training Program

CREATE IGERT Stairs Group CREATE Logo

NSF CREATE-IGERT Program Overview

From 2007-2014, the Biotechnology Program was the administrative home of a multi-institutional National Science Foundation funded Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Collaborative Research and Education in Agricultural Technologies and Engineering (CREATE) program (NSF DGE-0653984), led by UC Davis PI Karen McDonald (Chemical Engineering), Co-PI Abhaya Dandekar (Plant Sciences), Co-PI Martina Newell-McGloughlin (UC BREP), Co-PI Pamela Ronald (Plant Pathology), Co-PI Jean VanderGheynst (Biological and Agricultural Engineering), and Program Coordinator Denneal Jamison-McClung (Biotechnology Program). Tuskegee University leadership included PI Luther Williams (Provost), Co-PI Jesse Jaynes, Co-PI CS Prakash and Program Coordinator Deloris Alexander (Integrative Biosciences Program).

transgenic tobacco leaf — Transgenic, GUS-stained tobacco leaf from the first short course in 2009.

Through connections established by Co-PI Martina Newell-McGloughlin, NSF CREATE-IGERT linked domestic training partners at UC Davis and Tuskegee University with several international training and research partners in Ireland, including Ewen Mullins at the Teagasc Oak Park Research Centre in Carlow; Phil Dix at the National University of Ireland (NUI), Maynooth; Charlie Spillane at the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway; and Jim Burke at University College Dublin. This unique international collaboration allowed for the incorporation of global perspectives on important research questions and regulatory approaches in plant biotechnology. The program brought together a diverse group of faculty and graduate students from the plant sciences, molecular biology and engineering interested in using plant biotechnology to tackle global research questions crossing human and animal health, agriculture and environmental sustainability.

CREATE Research and Training

NSF CREATE-IGERT faculty and students worked within interdisciplinary teams on research projects in the following focus areas:

Biofuels & Biorefineries
Plant-Made Products
Environmental Sustainability

The NSF CREATE-IGERT training program included industrial research internships in the U.S., as well as abroad. Trainees were exposed to the platform and emerging technologies, as well as policy paradigms (regulatory, IP) in plant biotechnology, including global perspectives.

2012 CREATE Symposium — Prof. Richard Michelmore (Director, Genome Center), Prof. Karen McDonald (Chemical Engineering), Dr. Vidadi Yusibov (Executive Director, Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology) and Prof. Satya Dandekar (Medical Microbiology and Immunology) grab lunch in the courtyard of the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility at the 2012 CREATE-IGERT Symposium. Dr. Yusibov gave the keynote address, "High Performance Production System for Vaccine and Therapeutics".

Denneal and CREATE Trainees — Touring UC Davis research facilities with visiting Tuskegee University trainees (L->R) Rachel Kerwin, Dominique Gales, Dr. Denneal Jamison-McClung, Steven Samuels, LaKisha Odom, Dalya Lateef, Raymon Shange and Sonni-Ali Miller.

Integrative Skill Sets

CREATE training activities were designed with improvement of core integrative skill sets in mind and trainees conducted an annual self-assessment to track progress in their acquisition of technical and professional skills important for a variety of career paths in the life sciences and engineering. The eight core integrative skill sets defined by our program were:

Desire and ability to work in interdisciplinary research teams.
Frequent and effective communication between research team members.
Establishment of a common ground (a common set of scientific principles and laboratory skills to build upon).
Deep knowledge in one's own field coupled with broad exposure in related areas.
A commitment to teach others outside one’s field as well as a desire to learn from others outside of their field.
Creativity and "out of the box" thinking.
Ethical and responsible conduct in research, development and business.
An understanding of the global impact, as well as different needs and/or perspectives on the technology in different parts of the world.

Tuskegee University and UC Davis trainees came together for the first time at the October 2008 CREATE Symposium held at the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center Ballrooms (L->R) Dr. Jean VanderGheynst, Chris Simmons, Ben Lindenmuth, Dr. Jesse Jaynes, Dr. Ramble Ankumah, LaKisha Odom, Raymon Shange, Dalya Lateef, Dr. Clark Lagarias, Dawn Chiniquy, Steven Samuels, Tim Butterfield, Tiffany Glavan, Dr. Satya Dandekar and Dr. Karen McDonald.

Summer Short Courses

Dr. Larry Joh was the CREATE-IGERT Development Engineer in charge of developing and leading two summer short courses in platform technologies critical for trainee research projects. Offered in July each year (2009 - 2012), the training courses were 1) Plant Transformation Methods and 2) Recovery & Purification of Plant-Derived Products. Each intensive course was conducted over one week during the summer and brought together trainees from Tuskegee University and UC Davis in interdisciplinary research teams. The courses were a lot of work for all participants, but productive, fun, and a great bonding experience for trainees and instructors!

CREATE Trainees Summer 2011 — 2011 CREATE-IGERT Summer Course in Plant Transformation (L->R) Tracy Zeng, Steven Samuels, Hyrum Gillespie, Patrick O'Dell, Larry Joh, Sonni-Ali Miller and Mark Lemos

grindomix and trainees — (L->R) Lucas Arzola, Elenor Castillo and Chris Simmons using the grindomix!

Trainees tour lab January 2011 — In January 2011, as part of the annual symposium activities, CREATE Trainees, Faculty and Industry Partners enjoyed a special tour of the UC Davis College of Engineering bioreactor facility (McDonald Lab), led by CREATE Development Engineer, Dr. Larry Joh.

In the summer of 2013, the CREATE team collaborated with international partners to develop a two-week, interactive workshop on the regulation of plant biotechnology commercial products in the U.S. versus the European Union. Trainees and faculty who participated in this course traveled to NUI Galway, Teagasc Oak Park Research Center, University College Cork, University College Dublin (the other "UCD"!) and Trinity College. Trainees developed individual projects related to the regulation of genetically modified plants, participated in symposia, lectures, and field site visits.

CREATE at University College Dublin — CREATE Trainees visited the UCD Agriculture and Food Science Centre in Dublin at the invitation of international partner, Prof. Jim Burke, engaging in discussions with researchers, as well as touring research facilities and greenhouses. (L->R: Dr. Martina Newell-McGloughlin, Hyrum Gillespie, Natasha Worden, Marta Bjornson, Mitch Elmore, Tim Butterfield, Mitch Harkenrider, Steven Samuels and Elenor Castillo. Not shown: Prof. Karen McDonald and Dr. Denneal Jamison-McClung.)

2013 UCD Institute of Food and Health — The UCD Institute of Food and Health, "...a multidisciplinary, campus‐wide initiative, where Principal Investigators (faculty) and their teams focus efforts across four research thematic areas: Food Quality and Processing, Food Safety, Nutrition and Health and Food Chain Sustainability."

UCD Tour — UCD approaches to interdisciplinary, translational research resonated with the CREATE scientists and engineers, all of whom were working on projects that required skills in team science and the intersection of STEM disciplines for plant biotechnology applications in food, agriculture and energy.

Teagasc Field Day Booklet

Teagasc Field Day Group — (L->R) Elenor Castillo, Hyrum Gillespie, Karen McDonald, Steven Samuels, Marta Bjornson and Mitch Harkenrider - all "outstanding" in the field.

UC Davis Coursework

Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology (DEB) Requirements

(Note: "MCB" prefixed course numbers are now prefixed "DEB")

MCB263, Fundamentals and Applications of Biotechnology (must be taken before the QE)
GGG296, Scientific Integrity and Professionalism (or PLP 298 below)
ECH/MCB294 Current Progress in Biotechnology Seminar (3 quarters)
MCB282 Biotechnology Internship (minimum 3 months full time)

CREATE Required Courses

(Note: these courses are no longer available)

PLS298 Transgenic Plant and In-Vitro Plant-Based Expression Systems (Prof. Abhaya Dandekar and Prof. Karen McDonald)
PLP298 Scientific Ethics (Dr. Martina Newell-McGloughlin)

Symposia, Distinguished Lectures and Retreats

Each year, we hosted an annual training symposium to showcase the research of CREATE trainees, network with industry partners and explore new research avenues in plant biotechnology, including a keynote talk by a distinguished researcher in the field. In addition, CREATE trainees from UC Davis and Tuskegee University were invited to the Annual Biotechnology Program Training Retreat and met for occasional activities and events. The symposium program books and documents linked below contain presentation and poster abstracts, distinguished lecture announcements and photos from CREATE community activities.

Annual Symposia and Distinguished Lecture Series

2008 Distinguished Lecture by Prof. Chris Sommerville (Director, Energy Biosciences Institute) "Cellulosic Biofuels" 2008_CREATE_Symposium_Book.pdf
2009 Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Maurice Moloney (Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, SemBioSys) "From Construct to Clinic: Plant-made Pharmaceuticals and Drug Development using Green Technology" 2009_CREATE_Symposium_Book.pdf
2011 Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Roger Beachy (Director, National Institute of Food & Agriculture) “Opportunities & Challenges in Agriculture and Biotechnology: Who Will Predict the Future?” 2010-2011_CREATE_Symposium_Book.pdf
2012 Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Vidadi Yusibov (Executive Director, Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology) "High Performance Production System for Vaccine and Therapeutics" 2012_CREATE_Symposium_Book.pdf
2013 Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Rachel Chikwamba (Chief Scientist, Plant Biotechnology Group, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa) "Plant-Made Products for Sustainable Solutions in Nutrition & Health – Opportunities & Challenges” 2013_CREATE_Symposium_Book.pdf
2014 Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Yuri Gleba (CEO, Icon Genetics and Nomad Bioscience), "Plant Biotechnology: The Future is in Transient Expression Processes" and 2014 International Policy Lecture by Dr. Shane Morris (Director, Policy Leadership and Reporting, Major Projects Management Office, Natural Resources Canada) "EU GM Crop Regulations and Environmental Risk: A Case of the Emperor’s New Clothes?” 2014_CREATE_Symposium_Book.pdf

Event Images

IGERT 2013 Video

NSF IGERT Online Poster Sessions and Video Competitions

Starting in 2011, NSF IGERT switched to an online version of the annual program meeting, which in previous years was hosted in Washington DC with each lead PI and one program trainee in attendance. For the online event, lead PI's were invited to submit one representative poster and all IGERT participants were invited to view and vote for the entries, allowing for broader participation by faculty and trainees from across the country. In 2012, a video competition was added. All past entries have been archived online.

Deloris and Jacquelyn 2008 — Tuskegee University Prof. Jacquelyn Jackson and Prof. Deloris Alexander at the inaugural CREATE Symposium in October 2008 at UC Davis.

2012 Symposium Group — Faculty trainers, program administrators and graduate student trainees at the 2012 CREATE Symposium.

2014 Symposium — (L->R) 2014 CREATE Symposium guests and program leaders: Roger Beachy, Ray Rodriguez, Daniel Tuse, Karen McDonald, Yuri Gleba, Abhaya Dandekar, Alison McCormick and Tom Turpen.

Lunch 2012 — Diana Wong, Prof. Annaliese Franz and Shailise Ross enjoy "boxed lunch al fresco" at the 2012 CREATE Symposium.

2012 Posters — Geoff Benn, Mitch Harkenrider, Dr. Denneal Jamison-McClung and Natasha Worden take a break from poster viewing at the 2012 CREATE Symposium for a group photo op!

Gregory Chris Bernard 2014 — Tuskegee University Trainee Gregory Chris Bernard gives a talk at our final CREATE Symposium in May 2014.

2014 Trainees — The last hurrah! Our CREATE Trainees taking their final group photo at the close of the 2014 Symposium at UC Davis.

CREATE Participants

Program Alumni (27) - Pursuing Careers in Academia, Education, Industry, Non-Profits and Government

Arzola, Lucas – Director of Operations, Parallel18. Conducted doctoral research in transient expression of plant-made products in tobacco (PI Karen McDonald).
Benn, Geoff - Academic Coordinator, Plant Biology, UC Davis. Conducted doctoral research in plant stress signaling and engineering crop tolerance (PI Katie Dehesh).
Bernard, Gregory Christopher – Assistant Professor, Plant Sciences, Tuskegee University. Conducted doctoral research on engineering nematode resistance in sweet potato (PI Marceline Egnin).
Bjornson, Marta – Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Zipfel Group, The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK. Current/recent position. Conducted doctoral research on arachidonic acid signaling and engineering plant pest resistance (PI Katie Dehesh).
Butterfield, Tim – Postdoctoral Researcher, US Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Conducted doctoral research on polyphenolic plant defense compounds in transgenic crops (PI Abhaya Dandekar).
Castillo, Elenor – Scientist, Sutro Biopharma. Conducted doctoral research on engineering plant aromatic volatiles to improve agronomic and postharvest crop traits (PIs Abhaya Dandekar and Florence Negre-Zakharov).
Chiniquy, Dawn – Biological Project Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Conducted doctoral research on plant cell wall enzymes to improve biomass conversion (PI Pamela Ronald).
Elmore, Mitch – Research Plant Pathologist, US Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Conducted doctoral research in proteomics to ID and engineer disease resistance proteins in planta (PI Gitta Coaker).
Gales-Badea, Dominique – Research Scientist, Metaclipse Therapeutics Corporation. Conducted doctoral research in natural plant products for cancer therapeutics (PI Clayton Yates).
Gillespie, Hyrum – Science Department Head, Uintah River High School. Conducted doctoral research on engineering vector-borne viral citrus disease resistance (PI Abhaya Dandekar).
Glavan, Tiffany – Staff Scientist, IDEXX Laboratories. Conducted doctoral research on transgenic plant-derived therapeutics for gut mucosal regeneration (PI Satya Dandekar).
Harkenrider, Mitch – Business Strategy Manager, TerViva. Conducted masters research on engineering environmental stress tolerance in the biofuel feedstock, switchgrass (PI Pamela Ronald).
Kerwin, Rachel – Postdoctoral Researcher, Michigan State University. Conducted doctoral research on engineering glucosinolate plant defensive compounds for crop protection (PI Dan Kliebenstein).
Lateef, Dalya - Founder and Director, Arizona Science and Engineering Institute / Applied Biology Lecturer, Arizona State University. Conducted doctoral research on the influence of plant-derived nutrients on production of cholecystokinin (CCK), a gut-brain peptide, on the short term control of food intake and potential crop engineering strategies to affect this interaction (PI Adelia Bovell-Benjamin).
Lemos, Mark – Conducted doctoral research on engineering plant metabolic pathways to improve oil production as a precursor to biofuels and other high value products (PI Katie Dehesh).
Lindenmuth, Ben - Director, Process Development, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc. Conducted doctoral research on the transient expression and purification of recombinant endoglucanase from transgenic tobacco leaves for use in cellulosic ethanol production (PI Karen McDonald).
Miller, Sonni-Ali – Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Temple University. Conducted doctoral research on plant-made products to treat atherosclerosis and alter lipid metabolism (PI Marcia Martinez).
O’Dell, Patrick – Project Manager and Lab Technician, Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc. Conducted masters research on atomic force microscopy to characterize cellulose hydrolysis (PI Tina Jeoh).
Odom, LaKisha - Scientific Director, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. Conducted doctoral research (laboratory and field studies) on potential impacts to the progression of cotton seedling disease and soil microbial diversity mediated by transgenic cotton plants that were engineered to produce a synthetic antimicrobial peptide, D4E1 (PIs Jesse Jaynes and Ramble Ankumah).
Samuels, Steven – Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Tuskegee University. Conducted doctoral research on the use of transgenic sweet potato for plant-made therapeutics (PI Marceline Egnin).
Shange, Raymon - Associate Dean, College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences; Director, Carver Integrative Sustainability Center; Associate Professor, Environmental Sciences, Tuskegee University. Conducted doctoral research in soil microbial ecology, and and the use of geographic information systems to enhance natural resource conservation (PI Ramble Ankumah).
Simmons, Chris - Associate Professor, Food Science and Technology, UC Davis. Conducted doctoral research to discover key factors and rate-limiting steps in plant transformation via kinetic modeling of the T-DNA strand transfer pathway from Agrobacterium tumifaciens to host plant cells during agroinfiltration (PI Jean VanderGheynst).
Vonasek-Eco, Erica – Regulatory Program Manger, Genentech. Conducted doctoral research on bacteriophage biocontrol of food born microbes and pathogens in crops (PI Nitin Nitin).
Wolf, Mark - Park Ranger, Interpretation, Yellowstone Park, National Park Service. Conducted masters research to characterize lignocellulose-degrading enzymes isolated from Acidothermus cellulolyticus, a hot springs microorganism isolated in Yellowstone National Park, with the goal of identifying thermostable enzymes appropriate for use in the production of biofuels and industrial chemicals (PI Rebecca Parales).
Worden, Natasha – Scientist, Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc. Conducted doctoral research on endomembrane trafficking and plant cell wall synthesis for biofuels (PI Georgia Drakakaki).
Zeng, Tracy – Criminalist, U.S. Department of Justice. Conducted doctoral research on cell wall formation and fermentation processes in Aspergillus nidulans (PI Bo Liu).
Zicari, Steve – Chief Technology Officer, California Safe Soil. Conducted doctoral research on biomass conversion of Energy Beets, a saline-tolerant biofuel feedstock (PI Ruihong Zhang).

Tuskegee trainees in the lab — Tuskegee University trainees, Raymon Shange and LaKisha Odom, working in the lab.

(Note: Faculty, senior personnel and collaborator institutional and/or organizational affiliations listed below may have changed since the award period began in 2007. Also, this is a comprehensive list and a few participants may have been added after 2007, or stopped participating before the program ended in 2014. The information below represents the titles and affiliations of academic, government and industry participants during either a portion or the entirety of the NSF CREATE-IGERT award period 2007 - 2014.)

Faculty Trainers

Abel, Steffen (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Alexander, Deloris (Professor & Director, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Ankumah, Ramble (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Beckles, Diane (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Blumwald, Eduardo (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Bovell-Benjamin, Adelia (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Coaker, Gitta (Plant Pathology, UC Davis)
Dandekar, Abhaya (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Dandekar, Satya (Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis)
Dehesh, Katayoon (Plant Biology, UC Davis)
Drakakaki, Georgia (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Egnin, Marceline (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Falk, Bryce (Plant Pathology, UC Davis)
Fan, Julia (Biological and Agricultural Engineering, UC Davis)
Franz, Annaliese (Chemistry, UC Davis)
German, J. Bruce (Food Science and Technology, UC Davis)
Guohao, He (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Hill, Walter (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Jackson, Jaqueline (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Jaynes, Jesse (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Jenkins, Bryan (Biological and Agricultural Engineering, UC Davis)
Jeoh, Tina (Biological and Agricultural Engineering, UC Davis)
Kliebenstein, Daniel (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Labavitch, John (Plant Biology, UC Davis)
Lagarias, Clark (Plant Biology, UC Davis)
Lebrilla, Carlito (Chemistry, UC Davis)
Liu, Bo (Plant Biology, UC Davis)
Martinez, Marcia (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
McDonald, Karen (Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, UC Davis)
Michelmore, Richard (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Nashar, Toufic (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Neale, David (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Negre-Zakharov, Florence (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Nitin, Nitin (Food Science and Technology, UC Davis)
Parales, Rebecca (Microbiology, UC Davis)
Prakash, CS (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Rodriguez, Raymond (Molecular and Cellular Biology, UC Davis)
Ronald, Pamela (Plant Pathology, UC Davis)
Samuel, Temesgen (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Savageau, Michael (Biomedical Engineering, UC Davis)
Shoemaker, Sharon (Food Science and Technology, UC Davis)
Theg, Steven (Plant Biology, UC Davis)
VanderGheynst, Jean (Biological and Agricultural Engineering, UC Davis)
Williams, Luther (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Williams, Witola (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Yates, Clayton (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Yilma, Tilahun (Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis)
Yoder, John (Plant Sciences, UC Davis)
Zabawa, Robert (Professor, IBS Program, Tuskegee University)
Zhang, Ruihong (Biological and Agricultural Engineering, UC Davis)

Dalya and Adelia — Tuskegee University Trainee Dalya Lateef and Prof. Adelia Bovell-Benjamin at the inaugural CREATE Symposium in October 2008 at UC Davis.

Abhaya and Satya Dandekar 2007 — Co-PI Abhaya Dandekar and Faculty Trainer Satya Dandekar at the November 2007 kick-off reception to announce the CREATE Program.

Pam and Dawn 2008 — Trainee Dawn Chiniquy and Co-PI Pamela Ronald at the inaugural CREATE Symposium in fall 2008.

Geoff Katie Marta — UC Davis Trainees Geoff Benn and Marta Bjornson with Faculty Trainer, Katie Dehesh (center). Photo taken at the Annual Biotechnology Program Retreat in March 2011.

Senior Personnel, Public Partners and International Collaborators

Aglan, Heshmat (Professor & Associate Dean, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Tuskegee University; External Advisory Board)
Burke, Jim (Teagasc Oak Park Research Centre and Chair, Crop Sciences,University College Dublin; International Collaborator)
Cuevas, Hector (Director of Outreach, Recruitment & Retention, UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies; External Advisory Board)
Dix, Phil (Professor, NUI Maynooth; International Collaborator and Internship Research Mentor)
Gibeling, Jeff (Dean, UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies and Professor, Chemical Engineering)
Hargadon, Andrew (UC Davis Graduate School of Management; Senior Personnel)
Hamann, Bernd (UC Davis Office of Research, Professor, Computer Science; External Advisory Board)
Kjelstrom, Judith (UC Davis Biotechnology Program; Senior Personnel)
Jamison-McClung, Denneal (UC Davis Biotechnology Program; CREATE Program Coordinator)
Joh, Larry (UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering; Development Engineer and Summer Workshop Instructor)
Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI)
Mullins, Ewen (Research Director, Teagasc Oak Park Research Centre; International Collaborator and Internship Mentor)
Neagley, Clinton (UC Davis InnovationAccess, Senior Personnel)
Newell-McGloughlin, Martina (Director, UC BREP; CREATE Co-PI)
Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA)
Roberts, Susan (Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering and Director, UMass Institute for Cellular Engineering; External Advisory Board)
Spillane, Charlie (Professor, NUI Galway; International Collaborator)
Tricoli, David (Manger, UC Davis Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Plant Transformation Facility; Senior Personnel)

Teagasc signing AOC — CREATE PI Karen McDonald and Teagasc Oak Park Research Centre Director, Dr. Jim Burke, sign the Agreement of Cooperation between their respective institutions while Co-PI Martina Newell-McGloughlin and Program Coordinator Denneal Jamison-McClung observe. Teagasc Oak Park Research Centre, Carlow, Ireland - August 2008.

teagasc 2008 — (L->R) After signing the Teagasc-UC Davis Agreement of Cooperation, PI Karen McDonald, Director Jim Burke and Co-PI Martina Newell-McGloughlin tour the Teagasc research facilities in Carlow, Ireland. Not pictured - Program Coordinator Denneal Jamison-McClung (photographer!).

Industry Partners and External Collaborators

Amyris
Arcadia Biosciences (Jos van Boxtel, Principal Scientist; External Advisory Board)
BioArchitecture Lab
Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology
G-CON Manufacturing
Genentech
Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI)
Kentucky Bioprocessing
Mapp Biopharmaceutical
Monsanto
Novozymes (Debbie Yaver, Director, External Advisory Board)
Pioneer Hi-Bred (Linda Castle, Research Director Trait Discovery, Verdia Campus; External Advisory Board)
Planet Biotechnology, Inc. (Lloyd Yu, Director, Process Development; External Advisory Board)
Ventria Bioscience (Ning Huang, Vice President of Research and Development; External Advisory Board)