the team
Allison Yin/AP Images for HHMI
Principal Investigator
Moisés (Moi) Expósito-Alonso , PhD
(he/him/él)
(2024-on)Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology, Department of Integrative BIology, University of California BerkeleyFreeman Hrabowski Scholar, Howard Hugues Medical Institutes (HHMI)Member of the Innovative Genomics Institute
(2019-2023)Staff Associate, Depts. of Plant Biology and Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science,Assistant Professor (by courtesy) of Biology, Dept. of Biology, Stanford University
Moi aims to mentor creative scientists that apply ecology, evolution, and genetics principles to understand nature and its relationship with climate
@MExpositoAlonso
moi@moilab.science moiexpositoalonso@berkeley.edu
Moi's Google ScholarMoi's CV
https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/moises-exposito-alonso https://ib.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/moi-exposito-alonso
Postdocs
Megan is interested in using machine learning algorithms to understand selection across plant genomes in response to stress.
@MeganRRuffleymruffley@carnegiescience.edu Megan's Google Scholar
Ken studies hybrid incompatibilities using computational and field-based techniques.
@Apex_Herbivorekthompson@carnegiescience.eduthomp579@stanford.eduKen's Google Scholar
Meixi aims to develop ways to track genetic health of ecosystems with geo-tagged genomes and real-time satellite information.
meixilin@berkeley.edu mlin@carnegiescience.edu Meixi's Google Scholar
Xing is interested in developing polygenic methods to understand complex adaptive architectures in plants.
xingwu@berkeley.edu xwu@carnegiescience.edu Xing's Google Scholar
Postdoc (co-advised by Phil Cleves)
Oliver is interested in meta-analyzing coral genomic resources to find a common genetic architecture of bleaching resistance across acroporid corals.
selmoni@berkeley.edu
Jinseul is interested in understanding the evolutionary dynamics of plants amidst environmental shifts, particularly drought. Her work delves into uncovering the strategies plants employ to adapt and thrive under such conditions.
Alyssa aims to develop landscape genomic models for quaking aspen management that incorporate the biological complexities of polyploidy and dioecy.
arphillips@ucdavis.edu Alyssa's Google scholar
During her Ph.D, Ruth focused on the benefit of meiotic recombination in plant breeding outcomes and used population genomics methods to infer changes in the recombination landscape during maize's domestication. Ruth is broadly interested in the two forces generating all genetic diversity within populations, mutation and meiotic recombination. She hopes to study these phenomenon, and their interaction, within naturally evolving populations and in important agronomic crops.
Graduate students
Lauren aims to develop deep learning methods for biodiversity modeling to understand both better.
@leg2015gillespl@stanford.edu gillespl@berkeley.edulgillespie@carnegiescience.edu Lauren's academic websiteLauren's Google Scholar
Laura aims to investigate the spatial and temporal structure in plant populations and how these inform adaptations to climate change.
@laura_leventhallleventh@stanford.edulleventhal@berkeley.edu lleventhal@carnegiescience.edu
Tati aims to understand the predictability of evolution using population genetics theory and techniques.
tbellg@berkeley.edutbellag@stanford.edu tbellagio@carnegiescience.edu
Kristy works to apply machine learning models to genomics data and is now incredibly excited to start applying them to plants to understand their adaptability to climate change.
@ksmualimkmualim@berkeley.edukmualim@stanford.edu kmualim@carnegiescience.edu Kristy's Google Scholar
Jules is interested in computational approaches to population genetics, conservation genomics, and in studying evolution in regards to climate change.
jules_perez@berkeley.edu
Staff researchers
Ben is interested in the molecular biology/genetics that underlie complex traits in plants, and how such traits could be relevant to adaptations within a changing environment.
benjaminjin@berkeley.edu
Research Technician II (through HHMI) |B.S. in Genetics and Plant Biology, University of California, Berkeley | He/him/they/them
Joey is interested in the molecular genetic basis of different adaptations in separated populations of plants, specifically related to rhizosphere ecology and architecture, and fungal interactions.
jmann2@berkeley.edu
Hamilton NGS STAR
Liquid handling robot (MOA 🦤)
MOA is interested in processing large amounts of DNA/RNA samples and likes to be very organized about it.
Undergraduates
Andy Huynh
Research Assistant | B.S. in Computer Science, Stanford UniversityAndy is interested in developing machine learning tools for ecological and conservation science. He will pursue a co-term in CS this upcoming year.
avhuynh@stanford.edu
Elena Sierra
Research Assistant | B.S. in Electrical Engineering, focus in Information Systems & Science, Stanford UniversityElena is interested in developing machine learning models for sustainability efforts, focusing on biodiversity monitoring. She will pursues a co-term in Computer Science with a focus in Artificial Intelligence this upcoming year.
esierra@stanford.eduesierra@cs.stanford.edu esierra@carnegiescience.edu
alumni
Emily Koke - Research Assistant 2023-2024 - Now Research Assistant in the Carnegie Institution for Science
Lucas Czech - Postdoctoral Scholar 2020-2023- Now Postdoctoral Scholar at GeoGenetics center in Copenhagen
Salim Soltani - Visiting Graduate Student 2023
Diego Rafael Perez - Undergraduate Research Assistant 2023 - undergrad at Stanford
Nicolas Camacho - Research Assistant 2023 - Graduated Stanford
Mali Esfahanian, PhD - Research Associate (Postdoc level scientist) 2021-2023 - Now Senior Scientist at Cquesta, CA.
Norzin Tenzin - Biology PhD student rotating 2023 - now RAISE Graduate Student at Stanford University
Ethan Gurwitch - Summer intern 2023 - now undergraduate at Duke University
Oliver Bossdorf, PhD - Sabbatical Professor 2023
Seba Toro Arana - Biology PhD student 2021-2023 - now PhD student in the Dinneny Lab at Stanford University.
Kaiku Kaholoaa - Hopkins Marine station PhD student rotating 2022-2023 - now PhD student in the Palumbi Lab at Stanford University.
Zouberou Sayibou - Undegraduate Research Assistant 2022-2023 - now pursuing M.S. in Computer Science at Stanford
Keegan Pham - Research Assistant 2022-2023 - now plant transgenic specialist at BioDrive
Tenzing Kalsang - Undergraduate Research Assistant 2023 - now undergraduate at Stanford
Shannon Hateley, PhD - Postdoc 2020-2023 - Now computational biologist at Google X, CA
Kelly Huang - Undergraduate Research Assistant 2022 - now undergraduate at Stanford
Marlot Westera - Master Student 2021-2022 - now PhD student at Amsterdam University, NL
Clara Kieschnick - Undergraduate Research Assistant 2020-2022
Katie Baker - Undergraduate Research Assistant 2022 - now undergraduate at Stanford
Christie Patel - Summer Intern 2022 - now undergraduate in Cambridge University, UK
Ru Peng - Research Assistant 2019-2022, now PhD student at Washington University, St.Louis, US
Matt Gill - Genetics PhD student rotating Spring 22, now PhD Student in Bhatt lab at Stanford University School of Medicine
Erin Zess, PhD - Postdoc 2021, now group leader in Benson Hill, Missouri, US
Jennifer Serrano Rojas - Biology PhD student rotating Summer 21, now PhD student in the O'Connell Lab at Stanford
Alanna Pyke - Genetics PhD student rotating Fall 20, now PhD student in the Sherlock Lab at Stanford
Eva Sehr - Bioinformatics Master student, FH Campus Wien 2019-2020, now scientist at Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria
Andrea Ramirez - Biology PhD student rotating Winter 20, now PhD student in the Dinneny Lab at Stanford
Veronica Pagowski - Biology PhD student rotating Fall 19-Spring20, now PhD student in the Lowe Lab at Stanford
Some cute pictures of the lab! our timeline
Fall 2019 Moi with Ru Peng, the first lab member and first Illumina kits for sequencing ;)
Dec 2020 MOILAB winter party (of course in ZoomLand!)
Summer 2021 first MOILAB retreat!
Spring 2022
Summer 2022 (with Kristy, Oliver and Megan photoshoped, you cannot tell right? 🤣)
Summer 2023 lab retreat in Yosemite (with Megan and Xing missing!)