Rachel Hendrickson '25 and Claire Macero '25 are the two Goldwater Scholars from Amherst College this year. The Goldwater Scholarship provides funding to undergraduates planning a career in STEM research.
On October 21st, Prof. Jeong, Justin Su ‘24E, Rachel Hendrickson ‘25, and Claire Macero ‘25 attended the 18th Plant Biology Symposium: Biology of Chloroplasts and Mitochondria held at UMass-Amherst. Prof. Jeong was one of the keynote speakers, and Justin, Rachel, and Claire each presented their posters.
Professor Jeong, Claire Macero ’25, Rachel Hendrickson '25, and Sara Omer '23 attended the 2023 meeting of the American Society of Plant Biology (ASPB) in Savannah, GA on behalf of the Jeong Lab. Claire and Rachel each presented a poster and Sara gave a two-minute lightning talk and presented a poster. Sara also received a travel award from ASPB to attend this conference.
Sara Omer was co-awarded the BCBP best thesis prize for her thesis contribution to the FPN3 project. Her thesis is titled "Investigating FPN3's role in iron acquisition and intercellular transport in Arabidopsis thaliana".
Justin Su '24E was one of two Amherst College students to receive a 2023 Goldwater Scholarship, which provides funding to undergraduates planning a career in STEM research. After college, Justin intends to pursue an MD-PhD and conduct research on infectious disease. Link to Amherst College press release.
Prof. Jeong hosted Dr. Hyun Jung Kim from Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Kim spoke about his work on emulating a host-microbiome ecosystem that orchestrates human health and diseases by integrating transdisciplinary approaches of clinical microbiology, microfluidics and tissue engineering. His group has been developing a “Patient’s Avatar” model by integrating patient-derived organoids, fecal microbiota and tissue-specific immune cells to emulate the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and colorectal cancer.
Professor Jeong, Justin Su '24E and researchers Zhujun Yao, Yixuan Wu and Prof. Joohyun Lee collaborated to publish a review focusing on the current understanding of chromatin-based regulation on iron homeostasis in plants highlighting recent studies in Arabidopsis and rice. This comprehensive overview of the effect and mechanism of chromatin-based regulation in response to iron status aims to provide critical insights in elucidating the complexities of iron homeostasis and contribute to improving iron nutrition in plants.
Prof. Jeong hosted Prof. Yunde Zhao from University of California, San Diego for a seminar on the Molecular Mechanisms of Auxin Biosynthesis and Inactivation. In his presentation, Prof. Yunde Zhao spoke about how the various auxin biosynthesis and degradation genes are coordinated to form a regulatory network for maintaining auxin homeostasis, and his research which demonstrates that GH3 amino synthetases play essential roles in auxin homoeostasis and plant development.
Prof. Jeong has received the NSF CAREER award, the organization's most prestigious award for young faculty members. This grant will support Prof. Jeong's research and educational activities for five years.
On October 30th, 2021, Maja Johnson '22 and Sara Omer '23 participated in the 2021 virtual Northeastern American Society of Plant Biologists 85th Conference. The Conference focused on topics addressing plant responses to environmental pollutants. Sara gave a 10-minute presentation on “The investigation of the fpn3 vit1 double mutant” and Maja presented her poster on “Investigating the Potential role of FPN3 in Mitigating Iron-induced Oxidative Stress”.
Prof. Jeong spoke at the Cell Biology of Metals Gordon Research Conference (GRC) in West Dover VT, giving a talk about our research on Ferroportin 3.
Former and current Jeong Lab members, Leah Kim '19, Kaitlyn Tsuyuki '18, Fengling Hu '19, Emily Park, '19, Jingwen Zhang '18, Jennifer Gallegos Iraheta '20, Avery Tucker, Madeline Clyne '18, Claire Castellano '16, Angie Kim '19, Daniel Chung '19, Christopher DaVeiga '20, and Elizabeth Parsons '20, are all co-authors of this research paper published in The Plant Journal.
Prof. Jeong gave a talk to our very own Biology Department at Amherst College entitled "Navigating the Paradox of Iron: Two Tales from Plants". Over Zoom, she discussed the two main ongoing projects in the Jeong Lab: the characterization of Ferroportin 3 and the effect of Histone 3 Lysine 27 trimethylation on iron homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Leah Kim '19 is the first author of this outreach paper on the biology of iron published in Frontiers for Young Minds.
Prof. Jeong is a co-author of this research paper in ACS ES&T Engineering as part of a collaboration with colleagues in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UMass Amherst.
On October 19th, 2020, Prof. Jeong hosted Dr. Terri Long from North Carolina State University for the Biology Seminar Series. Dr. Long's talk was titled "Don’t Stress: Iron Regulatory Mechanisms at the Intersection of Plant Development and Multi-Stress Resilience". Over Zoom, Dr. Long fielded questions from students about how she came to work in academia and her extensive career in studying plant nutritional homeostasis.
Jeong Lab graduates Christopher DaVeiga '20 and Elizabeth Parsons '20 are co-first authors of this outreach paper published in Frontiers for Young Minds.
Prof. Jeong spoke at the virtual 2020 meeting of the American Society of Plant Biology in July 2020, giving a talk entitled "Ferroportin 3 is a dual-targeted mitochondrial/chloroplast iron exporter necessary for iron homeostasis in Arabidopsis".
Jeong Lab students/graduates Emily Park '19, Kaitlyn Tsuyuki '18, and Elizabeth Parsons '20 are co-authors of this research paper in Plant Signaling & Behavior.
Liz is among eleven Amherst College recipients of a Fulbright grant to teach English in South Korea. Read more from Amherst's announcement.
Jenny is among the three undergraduate travel grant winners for the 2020 meeting of the American Society of Plant Biology (ASPB) in Washington, DC. Read more from ASPB's annoucement.
On November 4, 2019, Prof. Jeeyon Jeong hosted Dr. Elizabeth Haswell from Washington University in St. Louis for the Biology Seminar Series. Dr. Haswell's seminar was titled "Smarty Plants: How green organisms use mechanosensitive ion channels to sense and respond to physical forces". Over lunch, Dr. Haswell also talked about her work on the Taproot Podcast, where she and Dr. Ivan Baxter explore the stories behind plant biology literature with an author.
Prof. Jeeyon Jeong gave a talk at Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, MA as part of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department Seminar series.
Prof. Jeeyon Jeong gave a talk at Eastern Connecticut State University in Windham, CT as part of the Biology Department Research Seminar series.
Jeong Lab graduates Emily Park '19, Kaitlyn Tsuyuki '18, and Fengling Hu '19 are co-authors of this outreach paper in Science Journal for Kids. A Spanish version of the article was translated by Leah Kim '19.
This August, Kaitlyn Tsuyuki ’18 attended the 2019 meeting of the American Society of Plant Biology (ASPB) in San Jose, CA on behalf of the Jeong Lab. Read more from Biology News.
In July 2019, Prof. Jeong attended the Cell Biology of Metals Gordon Research Conference in Castelldefels, Spain, with two thesis students from the 2018-2019 academic year, Emily Park ’19 and Leah Kim ’19. Read more from Biology News.
Emily Park was co-awarded the BCBP best thesis prize for her thesis titled "PRC2-mediated H3K27me3 contributes to the FIT-dependent iron deficiency response in Arabidopsis thaliana".
Jeong Lab students/graduates Emily Park '19, Kaitlyn Tsuyuki '18, and Fengling Hu '19 are co-authors of this paper in Frontiers of Plant Science.
Prof. Jeeyon Jeong gave a talk at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the American Society of Plant Biology at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. Her talk was entitled "Ferroportin 3 is a mitochondrial iron exporter necessary for iron homeostasis in Arabidopsis".
Jeong Lab graduate Madeline Clyne '18 is a co-author of this outreach paper in Frontiers for Young Minds.
On December 3, 2018, Prof. Jeeyon Jeong hosted Dr. Erin Connolly from Penn State University for the Biology Seminar Series. Dr. Connolly's seminar was titled "Molecular Mechanisms of Iron Uptake and Compartmentalization in Plants". Over lunch, Dr. Connolly discussed her career in plant biology, having previously collaborated on research with Prof. Jeong and their shared mentor at Dartmouth, Dr. Mary Lou Guerinot.
On November 12th, 2018, Prof. Jeeyon Jeong hosted Dr. Elsbeth Walker from UMass Amherst for the Biology Seminar Series. Dr. Walker's seminar was titled "Long Distance Shoot to Root Signaling of Iron Deficiency in Plants". A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Dr. Walker talked with students about life and finding her home and career in the Pioneer Valley over lunch.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, a biology professor is working to unlock the secrets of iron in plants. Read more from the College's news release.
Prof. Jeeyon Jeong gave a talk at the 18th International Symposium on Iron Nutrition and Interactions in Plants at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan.
The lab came in second place in the #BuckyTheElk Selfie Contest at Plant Biology 2018 in Montreal with a selfie full of comedic hats, glasses, and signs, Prof. Jeong included! The prize, a coupon for Tim Hortons, was used on donuts for the drive back to Amherst.
The Jeong Lab attended the annual conference of the American Society of Plant Biology (ASPB) in Montreal, Canada. Read more from Biology News.
Prof. Jeeyon Jeong and Chanyoung Park '18 (former student in Seminar in Biology of Metals: a Molecular Perspectives) published this review article in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects.
Prof. Jeeyon Jeong gave a talk at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the American Society of Plant Biology at UMass Amherst. Her talk was entitled "Mitochondrial Ferroportin and Iron Homeostasis in Plants".
Jeong Lab students, Madeline Clyne '18 and Aleks Merkovich '17, are co-authors of this review article published in Current Opinion of Plant Biology.
Prof. Jeong and two students, Madeline Clyne '18 and Aleks Merkovich '17, traveled to Honolulu for Plant Biology 2017, the annual conference of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). Read more from Biology News.
Prof. Jeong gave a talk at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, MA entitled "Intracellular Iron Homeostasis in Plants" as part of the Plant Biology Graduate Program Seminar Series.
Prof. Jeong and two students from the Jeong lab, Claire Castellano ’16 and Joye Yang ’17, attended Plant Biology 2016, the annual conference of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). Read more from Biology News.