Event Date
Speaker: Margaret Frank, Associate Professor
Speaker Bio: Margaret Frank is an Associate Professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University. Her research explores how plants communicate across long distances and how these signaling systems can be harnessed to improve plant performance and agriculture. Her lab uses plant grafting, genetics, genomics, imaging, and synthetic biology to study vascular regeneration, mobile signals, and communication between roots and shoots. More recently, her group has been applying these discoveries to develop programmable plant systems and new strategies for crop improvement, including hybrid breeding in soybean.
Margaret received her Ph.D. in Plant Biology from Cornell University and completed an NSF postdoctoral fellowship at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. She is a recipient of the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research New Innovator Award and is part of several interdisciplinary efforts focused on the future of plant biology and agriculture, including the NSF Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems and the CIFAR Arrell Future of Food Discovery Program.
Institution: Cornell University
Seminar Title: Two plants one future: exploring the biology underlying grafting success
About the Series
The Plant Biology Graduate Group Events series brings researchers and trainees together to explore advances across plant biology, from molecules to ecosystems. Hosted by the Plant Biology Graduate Group, these events foster interdisciplinary exchange, professional development, and community around plant-focused research.