Biochemistry and molecular biology professor receives travel award to attend international conference in plant-microbe research

Ellyn Evans ’16, visiting assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at The College of Wooster, received a Shimamoto Travel Grant from the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (IS-MPMI) to defray the costs of attending the 2023 IS-MPMI Congress. Evans also was invited to participate in a concurrent session titled “Showcasing Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in Plant-Microbe Interactions” alongside one of her students, Will Wasielewski ’25. The conference brought together scientists from across the globe to discuss major advances in the understanding of plant-microbe interactions that may help improve the resilience of crop production systems in the wake of climate change.

“Receiving both a travel award and a talk invitation as a first-year faculty member was a very unexpected but pleasant surprise,” Evans said. “The talk invitation seemed fitting for The College of Wooster’s focus on mentored undergraduate research, so I was quite thrilled to notify my students.”

Evans’ research focuses on how plants adapt to environmental stressors, such as temperature extremes or contaminants in the soil. She and three of her students—Wasielewski, Charitha Patlolla ’25, and Abigail Williams ’26—are specifically studying how different salts and salt concentrations impact plants by examining the soil microbiome, or the microorganisms growing underground. They also are implementing experimental design to understand the impacts of water contaminants on the soil microbiome and how such contaminants impact crop sustainability. By characterizing the soil microbiome of different plants, the research team hopes to identify novel microbes that aid in stress response.

“The whole premise of this work relates to the impacts of climate change and our growing global population,” Evans explained. “Plants are constantly being exposed to different stress conditions, but obviously they are sessile and can’t just get up and walk away.”

Students Will Wasielewski ‘25, Charitha Patlolla ’25, and Abigail Williams ’26 attended an international conference in plant-microbe research with Ellyn Evans ’16, visiting assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.

All three students attended the congress with the support of student conference travel grants administered through APEX, Wooster’s Center for Advising, Planning, and Experiential Learning, to help cover the associated expenses. Patlolla and Williams presented a poster of their research, while Wasielewski presented the soil microbiome sequencing data during his presentation with Evans. The session, which featured two other pairs of undergraduate student mentees and their early-career mentors, included a Q & A panel about the mentor-mentee relationship at the end.

“Being able to share the research we had been working on with other people who were really interested in it was super cool,” Wasielewski said. “I think I gained a lot of confidence and valuable experience from going to the conference and presenting our work.”

Like her students, Evans first began working on research related to plants and climate change as an undergraduate at Wooster. She says this experience helped immensely when she was working on her Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University by helping her feel comfortable in the lab and teaching her the importance of asking questions.

“I’ve been on both sides. I’ve done research as an undergrad at Wooster, and now I’m advising students who are doing research as undergrads at Wooster,” Evans said. “I think it’s awesome what students have access to and what they get to learn. They’re getting to do research that is at the level of graduate student research. At the same time, I have learned so much from my students. Sometimes they see things a little differently, or they have questions that I don’t have. We’ve implemented some of their ideas into the lab and added on to what we were already working on. It’s honestly a lot of fun.”

Posted in Faculty, News on August 14, 2023.