Postdoc Council Members

Postdoc, Plant Ecophysiology – Utrecht University

About my research

During my PhD, at Wageningen University, I had the opportunity to work on the non-model plant species tulip, where I studied the effect of temperature on the molecular regulation of flowering time and dormancy in tulip. This research led to the curiosity of how plants sense their environment and how they respond to it. After my first postdoc at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL),  I joined the group of Professor Voesenek, which studies the plant’s response to flooding stress. My current project focusses on how ethylene enhanced flooding tolerance in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana.

PostDoc, BioSystematics– Wageningen University and Research

About my research

Since the beginning of my academic career, I have been fascinated by the ability of plants to produce a large and diverse range of specialized metabolites. I have therefore dedicated myself to understand the mechanisms underlying their production, from molecular and evolutionary perspectives. I first did a PhD in France, where I identified and characterized new P450 enzymes involved in the production of fig tree defensive compounds called furanocoumarins. I then moved to the Netherlands to join Eric Schranz’ group as a post-doc and study the activity and evolution of oxidocyclase enzymes involved in cannabinoid biosynthesis.

PostDoc, Laboratory of Nematology-Wageningen University & Research

About my research

I am a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Brasília, Brazil (2016). I have specialized in plant viruses and plant-virus interactions during most of my career and in my current post-doc position I am broadening my horizons, looking at plant-nematode interactions from the perspective of chemical signaling between potato and potato cyst nematodes. I have been working in the interface between companies and academia for the last 5 years through the scope of TTW projects with multiple companies including KeyGene, Rijk Zwaan, Enza Zaaden, Taki, Averis, Solynta, Avico, and others.

PostDoc Fellow, Laboratory of Plant Physiology – Wageningen University and Research

About my research

Throughout my academic career I’ve always been interested in how plants integrate multiple environmental signals into a coherent developmental response. My work has taken me across Europe, with stops in Bristol, Utrecht, Madrid and now Wageningen. Here my focus is on warm-temperature induced root elongation it’s interaction with drought signalling.

I joined the PostDoc council in 2021. Postdocs are a critical part of the research (and often teaching) infrastructure, but receive less support that other academic roles. Through my work on the council I hope to build a stronger post-doc community in EPS, and to help my colleagues deal with the stresses of postdoc life.

PostDoc, Biosystematics – Wageningen University and Research

About my research

My name is Marieke. My research interests fall within the cross-section of evolutionary genetics, ecology and anthropology, preferably to obtain multidisciplinary and integrative perspectives on the human past.

During my PhD at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, I worked with ancient DNA from human remains recovered from prehistoric archaeological contexts in the Mediterranean to reconstruct the transition from foraging to early farming. In June 2021 I joined the Biosystematics group at the WUR as a post-doctoral researcher. In my current research I aim to characterise the astonishing large genomic diversity of the traditional rice varieties that are grown by the Maroon peoples in Suriname, who are the descendants of West-African slaves that escaped the plantations during colonial times. The rice varieties may hold important clues to reconstruct a part of the Maroon community history, as well as the development of rice farming practises in the Americas in general.

I joined the postdoc council in summer 2022 to help organise events that provide social and career support for postdoctoral researchers.

PostDoc, Molecular Plant Pathology group – University of Amsterdam

About my Research

After a PhD within the Epigenetics and small RNAs team in the Jean-Pierre Bourgin Institute (INRAE, Versailles/University of Paris-Saclay) in France, I joined the Molecular Plant Pathology group in the University of Asmterdam as a PostDoc. My goal is to identify and characterize Suceptibility genes involved in resistance to black rot, a devastating disease of brassica crops worldwide caused by the pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Postdoc, Plant-Microbe Interactions, Utrecht University

About my research

My name is Mon-Ray Shao, and I am a postdoctoral researcher in Guido van den Ackervecken’s group at Utrecht University, with an interest in genetics and digital plant phenotyping. Currently, I am using image-based multiscale 2D/3D phenotyping to study susceptibility vs resistance against Bremia lactucae (downy mildew) in lettuce. Compared to classical resistance mechanisms (R genes), much less is known about quantitative or “field” resistance, even though this form is more durable and less likely to be evaded by pathogen evolution. The aim of my research is to understand the genetic and physiological basis of this resistance so that it can be utilized in plant breeding.

Postdoc Plant Physiology – Wageningen University.

About my research
‘My major research interest is on how plants survive in dry environments. I have been investigating genomic, physiological, and molecular responses to desiccation tolerance in orthodox seeds and resurrection plants, and drought responses on roots. I found that during evolution plants developed a powerful molecular and regulatory toolkit to protect their cells against the damages caused by water loss. Currently I work as a postdoc in the Seeds for the Future initiative, where I am combining my knowledge on physiology and genomics, with biochemical and biophysical information of desiccation tolerant cells, to use appropriate molecular biology techniques in order understand how cell protection and survival in the dry state can contribute to longevity in seeds and improve drought tolerance in crops.

Postdoc, Plant-Microbe Interaction, Utrecht University

About my research

I’m Yang from China. I love meeting people from various research backgrounds and different cultures. I’m doing my postdoc at Plant-Microbe Interaction group in Utrecht University. This is a 2 years project cooperating with HZPC (one of the biggest potato breeding company in Europe) and TU delft. The goal of my project is to find microbes that act as predictors of potato vitalities.