People

Busby lab

Busby lab summer 2023

 

Postdocs

Eduardo Pérez-Pazos earned his PhD from the University of Minnesota, where he researched host-specificity patterns between ectomycorrhizal fungi and their host plants, as well as the effects of historical contingency and priority effects on fungal necromass decomposition. He has a broad interest in fungal ecology, particularly within the context of priority effects. His research aims to uncover the mechanisms that drive the assembly of biological communities through laboratory, greenhouse, and field experiments. Additionally, he is interested in niche theory, trade-offs, and the natural history of fungi. Outside work, Eduardo enjoys nature photography, salsa dancing, cooking, symmetry, and playing with his cat, Truffle.

 

 

Lindsey Becker is a USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow. She received her PhD from NC State, where she studied the dynamics of seed borne fungal communities associated with wheat, particularly in relation to drought stress. Currently she is investigating wheat genotype and genotype mixture effects on wheat-associated microbial communities and drought tolerance.

 

 

 

 

 

Austen Apigo is a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow affiliated with the Busby lab and the Treseder lab at UC Irvine. Austen received his PhD from UC Santa Barbara and his thesis work explored the diversity and host specificity of fungal endophytes across a continental latitudinal gradient. Current work in Populus trichocarpa examines how fungal endophytes impact litter decomposition and how host traits and fungal species pools contribute to community assembly.

 

 

 

 

 

Amelia Fitch is an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow contributing to the HJ Andrews LTER8 reciprocal transplant project. Amelia received her PhD from Dartmouth University. Her interests include aboveground-belowground interactions between plants and soil microbes, landscape ecology, and how these research areas interact and are important for forest community structure and soil processes such as carbon storage. Amelia is also interested in the socio-political dynamics surrounding the timber industry and strives to ask questions that are relevant for forest management. When not searching code on stack exchange, she can be found outside biking, trail running, skiing, and gardening; she also enjoys enlisting the help of yeasties to make sourdough bread.

Graduate students

Hayley Park Richardson is a PhD student working with Dr. Posy Busby and Dr. Chris Mundt. Her research focuses on how different wheat cultivars shape their microbiomes over time, and how these long-term dynamics relate to disease resistance or susceptibility. Prior to beginning her PhD, she earned a master’s in vegetable breeding, where she studied the impact of organic and conventional breeding environments on common beans. Hayley is passionate about finding practical, scalable solutions to improve the inherent resilience of field crops. Outside of work, she helps run a 20-acre organic blueberry and vegetable farm with her husband, where she enjoys driving tractor and growing dry beans.

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa Vergara is a PhD candidate working with Dr. Posy Busby and Dr. Chris Mundt. As an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz, she studied fungal pathogens in the Redwood forests of Santa Cruz and the tropical rainforests of Panama. At OSU, her work focuses on microbiome-mediated genetic resistance in wheat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maria-Jose Romero-Jimenez is a PhD student. She is interested in the plasticity of fungi, plant-fungal interactions and their role on agriculture and evolving ecosystems. Maria is from Costa Rica where she studied Biotechnology Engineering at Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica for her undergrad. She later studied Biology for her master’s degree at Western Illinois University. Maria’s research at WIU was on the description of a novel fungal dark septate endophyte. She also worked on the characterization of the role and biogeography of species within the Darksidea genus on the Great Plains in the US.

 

Abbey Neat is a PhD student working with both Andy Jones and Posy Busby. She engaged in research studying agricultural plant pathogens and tropical forest ecosystems as an undergraduate at UC Davis. Through these experiences, she developed an interest in plant-fungal interactions of all types, with a particular interest in mycorrhizal symbioses. Abbey plans to focus her research on understanding the degree to which trees in forest ecosystems rely on their fungal symbionts for growth and survival.

Undergraduate students

  • Teia Chou
  • Abi Schline
  • Birgitta Woods

Former members

 

Busby Lab – Spring 2022

Busby Lab

Busby Lab – February 2020

BUsby Lab - October 2018

Busby Lab – October 2018

Postdocs

  • Maggie Wagner, Assistant Professor, University of Kansas
  • Natalie Christian, Assistant Professor, University of Louisville
  • Shawn Brown, Assistant Professor, University of Memphis
  • Devin Leopold, Bioinformaticist / Research Scientist, Jonah Ventures
  • Lucas Nebert, Postdoctoral Researcher, OSU

Graduate students

  • Kyle Gervers, PhD
  • Jessie Zimmerman, MS
  • Sabrina Heitmann, MS
  • Ed Barge, PhD
  • Kayla Delventhal, MS

Undergraduate students:

  • Abi Schline (REU)
  • Tea Chou (REU)
  • Katie Taylor (REU)
  • Josh Leon (REU)
  • Gabriel Velador Madera (REU)
  • Shaina Eagle (REU)
  • Meg Lake (REU)
  • Abbey Coday
  • Forrest Walker (REU)
  • Sloan Crowell
  • Mariana Garcia (REU)
  • Michael Getz
  • Elizabeth Juarez (REU)
  • Sydney Turner (REU)
  • Jacob Buckner (OSU Honors College thesis)
  • Gillian Bergmann (REU, OSU Honors College thesis)
  • Shikhar Hatwal
  • Mrinal Thapliyal (OSU Honors College thesis)
  • Abigail Kretschmar