Assistant Scientists:

Shih-Heng Su

     Shih-Heng is a determined assistant scientist heralding from beautiful Taiwan. She is an expert on high-throughput genotyping and has lovely fashion sense. Snoopy is her favorite cartoon character. Shih-Heng has the best brother in the world, named Sam. Her current work focuses on analyzing the growth of Brachypodium distachyon in microgravity as well as characterizing genes involved in polyamine biosynthesis.

Graduate Students:

Marie Keith

Marie has recently joined the Masson lab to pursue a PhD through the Department of Genetics. Her research interests include understanding the development of Brachypodium distachyon by examining the proprioception and phytohormone pathways. In her free time, Marie enjoys cooking, reading, and beating her friends in Bananagrams.

Undergraduate Research Assistants:

Tyler Ganser

Tyler is a junior studying Genetics through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her work examines polyamine metabolic pathways to see how specific genes play a role in environmental stress sensitivity. After graduation Tyler hopes to enroll in graduate school where she can pursue her passions in genetic counseling. Her favorite pastimes include sleeping and binge-watching The Office.

Alexander Moen

Alexander is the veteran undergraduate of the Masson lab having joined the team during his senior year of high school. Now as an undergraduate his research involves studying a phenomenon known as the clinostat effect and how it affects the curvature response in the roots of different mutant lines of Arabidopsis thaliana. Post-graduation Alexander intends on attending graduate school to further pursue a career in genetics research. In his free time, Alexander enjoys producing music and riding his longboard.

Tanner Zocher

Undergraduate Hourly Students:

Timothy (Tim) Davenport

     Tim is a junior pursuing studies in Microbiology and Agricultural Economics. After joining the Masson lab in 2019 Tim has taken an interest in the variability of biochemical pathways within conventional plant models. He currently assists in characterizing the growth of selected plant accessions under microgravity growth conditions. Timmy aspires to pursue a PhD in either Microbiology or Public Health where he can study novel approaches in treating infectious diseases. Outside of the lab, you can catch Tim playing a game of tennis or getting lost on campus.