2023:

• I am very saddened to share the devastating news that a former postdoc from my lab, Volodymyr I. Kozlovskyy (1968-2023), was killed in a battleground in Ukraine defending his country.  Volodya was my first postdoc who helped me to set up my lab and get experiments rolling. While being in my lab for only one year (2005-2006), he co-authored two manuscripts, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry in 2009 and 2010. He returned to Ukraine after one year and continued his academic career at the Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine. We also collaborated on the three-year project funded in 2017 by the CRDF-GLOBAL U.S.-Ukraine Competition. This collaboration resulted in a publication in Biology in 2021. From the first days of russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion, he joined the army to defend his Motherland and the West from russia’s invasion.  He was killed on June 19th, 2023, in a battle in the East part of Ukraine while trying to save his wounded friends. He will be dearly missed by his wife, Natalia Romaniuk (a former postdoc in the Philip Rea lab, University of Pennsylvania, PA) and their two sons, 17 years old Yaroslav and 15 years old Andriy, extended family, and friends. A couple of weeks ago, my husband Marko, sent him a card, signed by Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Roald Hoffman (Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor, Emeritus, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell), with good wishes and willingness to meet with him in person when the war is over… Volodya was deeply touched and instantly blushed…Rest in peace, Volodya; you will be dearly missed.

Volodya and other Ukrainian scientists who lost their lives on the frontlines in Ukraine was commemorated a story in Science magazine written by Rich Stone.

• Welcome Brock Salvatore (Summer REU-BTI Intern), Iryna Yezerska (research intern) and Yana Kavulych (a postdoc) to the lab!

• Yuxing Niu had a great experience presenting results from her Honors Thesis at the Cornell Undergraduate Research Board (CURB) Symposium.

• Olenka and Ju-Chen presented their research at the New Roots Charter School, Ithaca, NY

A note from from Olenka and Ju-Chen:

Activities:

We had a 15-minute presentation to introduce our research on the essential role of copper in plant fertility to a small science class of 9-10 grade students. We brought healthy plants (wild type) and the mutant suffering from copper deficiency (citf1 spl7 double mutant) so that the students could observe how copper affects plant growth. We also brought Brachypodium plants and wheat for them to observe. After the presentation and a short discussion section, we extracted DNA extraction from strawberries with the students using household stuff. Everyone successfully isolated enough DNA and could scoop it from the extraction buffer.

What was the most rewarding for us:

We are very happy that we did DNA extraction with the students. This is their first molecular biology experiment at school. Our videos of pollen 3D tomography and the fun activity made them curious about science and our research. At the end of the class, it was very rewarding that one of the students asked how she could follow up with more details about our research.  

• We are starting an exciting new project with Dezi Elzinga and Hilary Mayton from Agrynex; check it out!
• Welcome a new Cornell undergrad to the lab, Kate Dooling!

2022:

• Congratulations to Ju-Chen with a new addition to her family: a baby girl, Zoe, was born on December 21st. …and Ju-Chen’s paper was accepted in The Plant Cell on the same day!!!

• We welcome a new Ph.D. student to the lab, Hanna Shatokhina

• Celebrating Yulin’s achievements in the lab; sad that she is leaving and hoping that she will be back!

• Our lab had a great time presenting our work and gaining more knowledge while attending Plant Molecular Biology
  @GordonConf

  

• We welcome a BTI-REU intern, Marge Pomo, to the lab!
• Eli is back for the summer and Nancy Niu has joined for the summer too!

2021:

• Welcome back Yulin for a postdoc!!
• Welcome Eli Simons, a high school senior from Ithaca High School to work in the lab through New Visions Program
• Welcome back  Erica, Carlos and Griffin!
• Congratulations to Olenka, she was awarded USDA-NIFA Education and Workforce Development: “Establishing the role of CITFL transcription factors in copper homeostasis and reproduction in wheat and its model Brachypodium”
• January: the lab receives USDA-NIFA award to study the role of copper in grain size. storage protein and carbohydrate accumulation ;

2020:

• Congratulations to Olenka, she was awarded the Sellew Family Fellowship!!
• October 15th, congratulations to Huajin and Haoyu with baby-boy Thomas Sheng!!

• Patricia Leyva (PhD candidate, Plant Biology graduate field) joined the lab for a rotation project. Welcome Patty!
• A former undergraduate student, Ethan Pan has been admitted to the Zucker/Hofstra School of Medicine. Congratulations Ethan!! Good luck!
• Olenka successfully passed her A exam! Congratulations!

• Olena was promoted to Full Professor!

2019:

• Pat Mendoza joins the lab, welcome Pat!
• March 11th: Congratulations to Ju-Chen and Vincent with a baby-boy, Gabriel-Qianmu!!!

2018:

•  Yana, Yulin, Olenka and Olena attend and present their research at the ASA-CSSA meeting in Baltimore

• The lab welcomes Yana Kavulych, a visiting PhD student from the Ivan Franko University of Lviv, Ukraine and two Cornell undergraduates, Yihe Zhang and Bronte Zhang

• Cornell undergrads, Ethan Pan and Marta Faulkner reflect on their experience in the lab

2018:

• Huajin Sheng, Olenka Zavodna, Mark Sorrells and Olena Vatamaniuk attend a symposium “Sustainable Approaches to Improve Wheat Yield and nutritional Quality”, in Lviv, Ukraine, as part of the ongoing  CRDF-Global U.S.-Ukraine Award

 

• Olena was interviewed by WCNY (PBS) for a segment “CHESS: X-rays of the Future” in the show SciTech Now.

This show was first aired yesterday July 26^th at 8:30 pm. If you would like to take a look, the online version of the program is available at:

http://www.wcny.org/television/wcny-scitech-now/

• Lab projects are featured in Cornell and USDA-NIFA news.

Copper Absorption in Wheat, Increase in Yield

Fresh from the Field, July 5th, 2018

CALS Plant Transformation Facility “delivers” first transgenic wheat

April 2018: in collaboration with Drs. Walker, UMASS, Amherst, and Pineros (BTI), we will continue our studies of the shoot-to-root signaling of iron deficiency. This study is funded by the NSF.

February 2018: the lab receives the USDA-NIFA award to study “Transcriptional Regulation of Copper Homeostasis in Cereals and its Relationship to Fertility and Yield”. 

We work hard and like to celebrate birthday parties and holidays with our friends:

October 2017: the lab welcomes new members, Maryam Rahmati Ishka (Postdoc) and Yulin Jiang, a visiting PhD student from the Triticaceae Research Institute, the Sichuan Agricultural University, China

July 2017: The lab receives the NSF-IOS award to study “The Role of Copper and Transcriptional Regulatory Networks Governing Copper Homeostasis in Pollen Fertility in A. thaliana.”

 

The image on the left shows Olena and Ju-Chen study Arabidopsis plants by the synchrotron x-ray fluorescent (SXRF) microscopy at the Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS). Image on the right shows the SXRF microscopy of the localization of the micronutrient copper in anthers of Arabidopsis flower (left) and a dissected Arabidopsis flower.

June 2017: Ju-Chen and Jiapei present their research at 28th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research in St. Louis, MO

May 2017: Mike Gore and Olena Vatamaniuk organized minisymposim at Cornell, SIPS, to advance knowledge on next-generation plant phenotyping technologies.

February 2017: The lab receives the CRDF-Global award to boost mineral nutrient quality and yield of wheat.

January 2017: The lab receives the Schwartz Award for Women in Life Sciences

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2017/01/three-receive-annual-schwartz-awards-life-sciences

September 2016: The lab welcomes Zhi Nie, a visiting PhD student from  the Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, China

June 2016: Jiapei and Bohan got married! Congratulations!

 

June 2016: Olena and Ju-Chen attended IWPMB-2016

May 2016: Congratulations Jiapei on the successful completion of the PhD program!!!!