The following genetics, development and cell biology members recently received job advancements: Hongqing (Michelle) Guo, Karri Haen Whitmer, Dior Kelley, Jelena Kraft, Sayali Kukday and Renu Srivastava.

Guo advanced from assistant scientist to an adjunct assistant professor. She received her Ph.D. in genetics at Iowa State University, and she is studying how plants achieve optimal growth under stress conditions such as drought and bacterial or insect attacks.

Haen Whitmer advanced from senior lecturer to associate teaching professor. Haen Whitmer’s teaching specialty is large enrollment introductory human biology lectures; CURE and experiential learning for the human physiology laboratory. She received her master of science in plant sciences from North Dakota State University and her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in the Interdepartmental Genetics Program.

Kelley, who joined GDCB in January 2015, advanced from adjunct assistant professor to assistant professor in early 2019. Her area of expertise is “using systems integration of large-scale omics approaches to explore how auxin signaling modules control diverse developmental processes in Arabidopsis.” After receiving her bachelor of science in chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Kelley received her Ph.D. in plant biology from the University of California, Davis.

Kraft advanced from teaching lab coordinator to assistant teaching professor. Kraft earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry and bachelor of science in chemistry from Iowa State University. Her area of expertise is “biology education research and plant virus translation mechanisms.

Kukday was promoted from lecturer to associate teaching professor. She joined the department in 2013. Kukday’s area of expertise is “biology education research and enzyme activators as therapeutic agents in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.” She earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Georgia. She served as an instructor and postdoctoral associate at the University of Georgia. She received her master of science in biochemistry from The Institute of Science in Mumbai, India.

Srivastava advanced from an assistant scientist to an assistant teaching professor. Srivastava received her master of science in botany from the Lucknow University and a Ph.D. in botany from National Botanical Research Institute of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. She completed her postdoctoral appointments on a collaborative project between the University of Stockholm and University of Turku and then at Iowa State University.