PMB welcomes two new faculty members
PMB is excited to welcome two new faculty members this year. We look forward to their contributions to our community.
Patricia Lang
Assistant Professor, Plant and Microbial Biology
Patricia Lang is a molecular biologist whose research focuses on understanding how plants have adapted to climate change over the past 250 years. Her lab tracks historical changes in plant development by combining methods and data from herbaria—collections of preserved plant specimens—ancient DNA sequencing, and population genetics with modern molecular biology tools. She believes that knowing how plant species have previously adapted to a warming climate will be crucial for understanding future developmental mechanisms of climate resilience.
Lang joined the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology in January 2024. She earned a PhD in biochemistry from the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen, Germany, and most recently conducted postdoctoral research in the lab of Stanford University professor Dominique Bergmann. Lang has a strong passion for science communication and has previously interned at German news outlets Die ZEIT and Schwaebisches Tagblatt.
Lotus Lofgren
Assistant Professor, Plant and Microbial Biology
Ecologist Lotus Lofgren leverages genomics, bioinformatics, and molecular approaches to study the mechanisms of fungal interactions. From old-growth forests to the human body, fungi interact in some way with every species on Earth; they can be deadly pathogens or form an essential mutualistic symbiosis with their hosts. Lofgren’s lab will study how these interactions are formed, maintained, and broken through the production and exchange of infochemicals, nutrients, and toxins.
Lofgren will join the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology in January 2025. She earned her PhD at the University of Minnesota and conducted postdoctoral training at both UC Riverside and Duke University. She has a passion for increasing diversity in STEM, inclusive pedagogy, mentorship, and science communication. Outside the lab, Lofgren is an avid science illustrator, cyclist, gardener, and collector of mushrooms, insects, and punk music.