Robin Buell: University Distinguished Professor - HOLD

Robin Buell is a professor of plant biology and director of the Plant Resilience Institute in the College of Natural Science and AgBioResearch. She was named as one of MSU’s University Distinguished Professors in 2019. 

I look at the genome of different plants, the genome is DNA and the DNA is essentially a blueprint of how a plant grows and reproduces. Once we understand that, we can make plants either produce more yield or to respond to stress or deal with climate change.

When genomics started in 1995, very few people in the world were doing it. A mentor of mine said I would be a great candidate for a faculty position at an institute doing genomic research.

I did that for nine years and then I wanted to transition my research to an academic institution where I could have students.

Genomics is exciting because it seems like every year there’s a renaissance, there’s always something new to learn in terms of the technology and what you can do with it. 

Reused with permission from WKAR.