"My interest in plant biology is probably hereditary--some of my earliest memories are of keeping my Dad company on the tractor while planting and harvesting corn, soybeans, and wheat on our family farm in Illinois.  I received a Bachelor’s degree in Honors Biology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and then went on to complete a PhD in Plant Biology in the laboratory of Neelima Sinha at the University of California, Davis.  At UC-Davis, my research focused on the mechanisms of cell division and differentiation during maize leaf development.  A big question that fascinated me during my PhD was “how do cells know where they are and what they are supposed to do?”  After my PhD, I chose to pursue this question using pollination as a model system.  I joined Ueli Grossniklaus’s lab at the University of Zurich, Switzerland and began to study intercellular communication during reproductive development.  My lab's current research focuses on the communication that occurs between the pollen tube and the female gametophyte during pollen tube reception."

Dr. Sharon A. Kessler

Associate Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology

At Purdue University since August, 2016

Formerly at the University of Oklahoma (2012-2016)

PhD in Plant Biology from UC-Davis

Sowmiya Devi Venkatesan

PhD Student

2024-present

MaKenzie Drowns

PhD Student

2025-present

"My curiosity to better understand how plants perceive and adapt to their changing surroundings drove me to pursue research in plant sciences. I received my bachelor's degree in Genetic Engineering at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India. I went on to complete my Master's in Genetic and Molecular Plant Sciences at Uppsala University, Sweden. At Uppsala, I began my research in Plant Reproduction and Epigenetics at Dr. Claudia Köhler's Lab where I was studying triploid block and auxin-induced seed abortion in Arabidopsis thaliana. I am currently pursuing my PhD in Plant Biology at the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University. At Dr. Kessler's lab I will be using genetic and biochemical approaches to study pollen tube reception."