Environment

The IntBio Project is a group of interconnected labs associated with the College of Biological Sciences. The faculty in charge of the project are Dr. Julin Maloof, Dr. Jennifer Gremer, Dr. Denneal Jamison-McClung, and Dr. Troy Magney. We also have a research team of graduate students and post-doctorates including Maya Arakaki, Dr. Brandie Quarles Chidyagwai, Dr. Rishav Ray, and a handful of undergraduate research assistants.

The California Jewelflower, known as the genus Streptanthus, is the plant genus we work with in our lab! It’s a fascinating and versatile flower with some interesting features that make it perfect for studying evolution and ecology. Not only is it remarkable in how it was able to migrate to a new environment, but its lifestyle is surprising in the way it’s able to survive under snow for six months despite originally being a desert plant!

The public perception of fungi is typically focused on the beautiful, and occasionally delicious, fruiting bodies of a relatively limited range of fungal species. But the human applications of fungi and the compounds they produce go well beyond our dinner plate or photo album. Fungi, many of which gain energy from decaying plant matter, are known to produce a wide suite of enzymes specializing in the degradation of biomass components. Of particular interest is their capacity to break down lignocellulose, a complex and abundant constituent of plant tissue that forms secondary cell walls.

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