Envision
Research Areas and Associated Faculty
Click through various topics to learn more about the affiliated faculty research.
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Vincenzo Ellis |
The Ellis laboratory is focused on the molecular ecology and evolution of infectious disease. We are interested in a number of topics including the evolution of host specificity, parasite phylogeography and diversification, host-parasite coevolution, determinants of parasite community structure, and the physiological responses of hosts to infection. Our main study system is the malaria parasites of wild birds, but we recently started working with black-legged ticks and their microbiomes. Potential projects may include local field work to sample birds or ticks, molecular work to identify and genetically characterize parasites, and/or statistical or bioinformatic data analyses. |
Dr. Brian Ladman Laboratory |
The Ladman laboratory is focused on the monitoring of avian pathogens affecting poultry production in Delmarva, the characterization of new isolates of bacterial and viral pathogens, and the development and testing of new control methods (vaccines) for mitigating industry losses due to these pathogens. Dr. Ladman is the head of day-to-day operations of the Charles C. Allen Laboratory, a BSL-3-Ag biocontainment laboratory at the University of Delaware. Projects in his laboratory are focused on the characterization of pathogens, vaccine testing and the measurement of vaccine responses. |
Dr. Mark Parcells Laboratory |
The Parcells laboratory is primarily focused on the virology and immunology of Marek’s disease virus (MDV), an oncogenic virus of poultry. Projects include: the modeling of MDV of MDV infection, the evolution of MDV virulence, pathogen-host interactions, vaccinology, and the functional analysis of MDV gene products. In addition, the Parcells laboratory collaborates with UD faculty on other projects including models for Zika virus infection, food-borne viruses, and pathogenic microorganisms. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Yihang Li |
The main focus of the Y.Li’s Lab is intestinal development and physiology. By utilizing monogastric animal model, we want to understand the mechanisms by which the intestine rapidly responds and adapts in the long-term to environmental stressors (weaning, heat/cold, physiological stress) in early life, eventually identify novel nutritional strategies to facilitate gut adaptation and attenuate damage. Research projects will include the isolation and characterization of intestinal stem cell, evaluation on nutrient sensing/transport physiology, and mucosal barrier function and regeneration. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Kelly Davidson |
Behavioral and Experimental Economics Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition Policy Gender and Nutrition in Development |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Michael Crossley |
The Agricultural Entomology Lab seeks to understand the ecology and evolution of insects in changing agricultural landscapes. One of the emerging themes in our lab is insects as waste upcyclers and a sustainable protein source. For the Summer 2022, we will be exploring horse manure digestion by two insects, black soldier fly and lesser mealworm, and seeing what effect these insects have on pathogens present in the manure. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Hong Li |
Research focuses on air quality and emissions related to animal feeding operations, with special interest in poultry operations. Working to develop and evaluate advanced air quality monitoring sensors and systems. Research helps to improve production performance, welfare of animals and create best management practices aiming to mitigate air emissions. |
Dr. Shree Inamdar |
Our Watershed Sciences group investigates how human activities, land-use legacies, and climate change are affecting water quality and watershed processes. A better understanding of the science can lead to better watershed management and policy decisions. We explore nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycles across stream, riparian, and upland ecosystems. Recently, through funding from NSF, EPA, and USDA, we have been looking at - (a) how historic mill dams and their legacies affect stream and riparian ecosystems; (b) how stream and floodplain restorations affects nutrient cycling and water quality and how these restorations can be evaluated and improved; and (c) sediment and nutrient transport and exports from watersheds and the impacts of extreme weather events on these exports. Our research provides exciting and fun opportunities for both - field sampling and monitoring and laboratory analysis. Our field and watershed study sites are spread across Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Our group research is highly interdisciplinary and spans disciplines of hydrology, water quality, soil sciences, biogeochemistry, and ecology including microbial ecology. We partner with scientists from these multiple disciplines for innovative insights into watershed processes. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Changqing Wu |
My research program has focused on the characterization and application of bioactive compounds for enhancing food safety and quality and improving human health. Specifically, my efforts have focused on three areas: 1) evaluation of toxicities and endocrine disruption potential for natural bioactive compounds and newly synthesized chemicals, 2) improvement of human and animal health by bioactive compounds, and 3) enhancing food safety and quality through the novel application of antimicrobial compounds or pulsed light technology. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Amy Biddle |
The equine microbiome in health and disease. Current projects include: correlating bacterial community profiles with blood markers in lean and obese horses, identifying differences related to age and metabolic diseases, and identifying bacteria associated with small strongyle parasites. |
Dr. Aditya Dutta |
Research in the Dutta laboratory is focused on understanding the mechanistic basis of cellular response to oxidative stress in both normal and diseased states, and the role of the microbiome in this process. In particular, the laboratory studies mitochondria-mediated mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of reproductive organ systems. The laboratory utilizes state-of-the-art transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic approaches to interrogate chicken models, mouse models, and human samples. The work aims to improve reproductive efficiency in chickens to enhance farm productivity; and identify and define drivers of prostate and ovarian cancer in the human context. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Jung-Youn Lee |
The research in the Lee laboratory has primarily been focusing on elucidating how cell communication and signaling occur at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels in plants. Specifically, her research group is interested in understanding how plant cells communicate through plasmodesmata, plant-unique intercellular communication channels. The Lee laboratory studies plasmodesmata structure and function by identifying molecular components using proteomic and biochemical approaches and investigating how they may impact plant growth and development as well as plant health and fitness under environmental challenges using cellular, bioinformatics, and reverse genetic approaches. In addition to addressing fundamental biological questions associated with plasmodesmal structure and function, Lee laboratory also studies how intracellular signaling pathways, such as defense and growth hormonal pathways, are integrated with intercellular and systemic signaling, and how these regulatory mechanisms have evolved in the plant kingdom. |
Dr. Erin Sparks |
The Sparks lab aims to understand the development, morphology, function, and molecular regulation of shoot-borne brace roots in maize. The ultimate goal of this work is to match brace roots to their environment and improve plant production. To achieve this goal we employ multi-disciplinary approaches from molecular biology to engineering. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Nicole Donofrio Laboratory |
The Donofrio laboratory is focused on means to understand the intricate and sometimes quite complex nature of interactions between plants and fungal plant pathogens. Why do plants succumb to disease? And how do certain fungi take advantage of a plant’s “inner-workings” to grow and reproduce? Specifically, there are two projects going on in my lab: the first focuses on the molecular interactions between a devastating fungal pathogen of rice, barley and other cereal crops, called Magnaporthe oryzae. The second is on a fungal-like organism that is of economic interest to lima bean breeders and farmers in Delaware and is a close relative of the pathogen that caused the Irish Potato Famine. Students from the Envision program who join the Donofrio lab program will learn the basics of culturing fungi and oomycete plant pathogens, as well as learn how they interact. Depending on the specific project, they will also delve into cell biology during the interaction using microscopy, or molecular exchange during the interaction using gene expression-related techniques. |
Dr. Alyssa Koehler |
The Koehler lab seeks to reduce crop loss due to disease through applied field research and laboratory investigations to understand pathogen biology. The goal of this program is to conduct research to develop and support sustainable disease management strategies that are shared through extension programming. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Harsh Bais |
My rhizosphere biology research is focused on understanding the biological significance of root exudation. Though root exudation clearly represents a significant carbon cost to the plant, the mechanisms and regulatory processes controlling root secretion are just now beginning to be examined. Root-root, root-microbe, and root-nematode communications are continuous occurrences in the rhizosphere, but due to the underground nature of roots, these intriguing interactions have largely been overlooked. My laboratory’s research is taking a multidisciplinary approach by interfacing plant biology and chemistry to unravel the underground communication process. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Angelia Seyfferth |
The Seyfferth Lab focuses on understanding the soil biogeochemical processes that dictate contaminant and nutrient cycling and uptake by plants. We are particularly interested in how small-scale soil-chemical processes influence contaminant (e.g., As, Cd, Pb) and nutrient (e.g., Si, P, Fe, S) release or attenuation that have large-scale impacts on human and environmental health. A variety of approaches are utilized including the coupling of laboratory experiments (for mechanistic information) and field-based observations to decipher contaminant and nutrient cycling and plant interactions under environmentally-relevant conditions. We use advanced analytical techniques such as synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy and imaging to unravel the species distributions of contaminants and nutrients in the rhizosphere and in plant tissues, and mechanisms of uptake by plant roots. Ultimately, we conduct basic research that can be applied to benefit society on a local-to-global scale. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. William Meng |
In the Delaware Indoor Ag Lab (DIAL), my research group works on a wide range of specialty crops in soilless culture (e.g., hydroponics), including leafy greens, culinary herbs, microgreens, small fruiting crops, and floriculture crops. Our environmental plant physiology research aims to improve efficiency and value of specialty crop production in controlled environments, including indoor facilities and greenhouses. My research program focuses on the optimization of environmental factors (e.g., light, carbon dioxide, and temperature) and root-zone factors (e.g., nutrient solution concentration and composition) relevant to plant photosynthesis, morphology, phytochemical production, and quality traits. My horticultural lighting research uses color-tunable light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures for indoor studies and dimmable LED grow lights for greenhouse studies. Strategic delivery of energy, water, and nutrients based on plant responses can increase resource use efficiency. |
Dr. Jarrod Miller |
My collaborators and I are interested in how precision ag technologies can make farms more economically and environmentally efficient. This includes drones (UAV), variable rate equipment (planters, applicators and irrigation), sensors and yield monitors. |
Faculty Mentor |
Project Focus Area |
Dr. Chris Williams |
The Williams lab oversees the Waterfowl and Upland Gamebird Ecology Program. Current research foci include better understanding waterfowl (duck and geese) and upland gamebird (quail) habitat preferences, nesting ecology, movement and behavior, and bioenergetic estimates of population carrying capacities. Further, they examine wetland availability and quality for ducks and geese along with early successional habitat management for quail. Dr. Williams also investigates wildlife policy issues for the long-term effectiveness of wildlife management and actions. |