Fall 2025 Newsletter

Background image: Three images: plant specimens growing in a lab setting; a person looking into a microscope, and plants growing in a growth chamber

Updates from the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology

Letter from the Chairs

November 3, 2025

Updates on the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology from Britt Glaunsinger (PMB Chair) and Kris Niyogi (PMB Associate Chair).Read more about Letter from the Chairs

Alum Profile: The Scientist Farmer

November 3, 2025

Carine (Marshall) Hines empowers small farmers in Northern California to succeed.Read more about Alum Profile: The Scientist Farmer

Alum Profile: Cheers to Innovation

November 3, 2025

With their company Berkeley Yeast, Rachel Li and Nick Harris are applying cutting-edge bioengineering technology to the beer industry.Read more about Alum Profile: Cheers to Innovation

2025 Class Notes

November 2, 2025

Updates from PMB alumni and current students.Read more about 2025 Class Notes

Share your experience with current students

Are you a PMB alumni local to the Bay Area who wants to share your post-PMB experiences with early-career scientists? Come present a career talk at PMB's Student-Postdoc Seminar! Whether you're still in academia, moved to industry, or completely switched fields, we would love to know what you're up to now and hear any advice you might have for grad students and postdocs. Talks can range from 10 - 40 minutes in length. If you're interested, please reach out to me at rponce@berkeley.edu, or Kat Smoot (SPS grad rep) at nksmoot@berkeley.edu. We hope to see you there!

— Raquel Ponce, PMB Alumni Rep, Plant Biology Ph.D. Student, Niyogi Lab