Norman and Doris Giles Professor
Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar
Ph.D. (1980) University of Washington
- Elected Member, US National Academy of Sciences, 2004
- Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2005
- Fulbright Awards, 2008 and 1990
- Guggenheim Fellow, 2008
- 1000 Talents Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2012
- Lamarr Dodd Creative Research Award, 2014
- Distinguished Visiting Researcher Award, CSIRO, Australia, 2017
- Elected Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, 2020
- Stebbins Medal (shared), 2021
- Grant Support -
- "Systems Analysis of the Beneficial Associations of Sorghum with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Studied with Genetics, Genomics, Imaging and Microbiomics," DOE
- "Consolidated Bioprocessing Initiative," DOE
- Research Interests -
- My lab is interested in plant genome structure and evolution, especially the nature of rearrangements and the contributions of transposable elements. We also study the relationship between genome structure, evolution and gene function. Our most active current research involves studies of microbe-microbe interactions in plant roots and surrounding soil. We have long-standing interests in genetic diversity and its use in under-utilized crops of the developing world, and biomass improvement for production of biofuels