The Who’s Who of Bart Lab

Marisa received her Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and her Master’s Degree in Cell & Molecular Biology from the University of Missouri- St. Louis. During her undergrad program, she researched screening for different root development phenotypes of Auxin mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana. Her graduate research focused on investigating antibiotic resistance in Enterobacteriaceae human pathogens Salmonella enterica and E. coli. This included a strong focus on teaching undergraduates.

When not in the lab, she enjoys playing low rec sand volleyball with friends for over 15 years, ice skating and volunteering time at her kids elementary schools.

Josh completed his undergraduate degree at Appalachian State, where he studied strength and conditioning and statistics. He received his master’s degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, studying biostatistics. He has experience as a traveling data scientist and completed an internship with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center while in graduate school.

Josh’s core research interests are in Bayesian statistics, sustainability, and research reproducibility. He’d also be more than happy to discuss strength and conditioning research. He likes the opportunities afforded in working with plants to explore interesting statistical options (such as Bayesian methods) and the culture of the Danforth Center. Outside of the lab, you can find him competing in strongman and powerlifting competitions.

Anastasiia completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Kyiv, Ukraine from Taras Schevchenko University, where she studied regulation of interferon-regulated genes expression in rat liver after surgical invasion. She received her Master’s Degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Where she worked with a genome of non-photosynthetic diatom Nitzschia, trying to discover possible ways of acquiring energy from the surrounding environment. She assembled the Nitzschia genome, annotated its carbon metabolism and worked with gene expression data. She studied phylogeny and evolutionary genomics of non-photosynthetic diatoms. Anastasiia also completed an internship in Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, MO, where she worked on developing FISH technique for studying paused RNA polymerase.

Currently, she is a student in her third year at Washington University, in St. Louis in the Plant and Microbial Biology program. She is working with a large sorghum field data set, specifically with root and rhizosphere samples. Among hundreds of samples and thousands of bacteria they contain, she is trying to find those, potentially beneficial for sorghum growth and isolate them for further more detailed studies.

When not in the lab, she enjoys cycling, which is her primary means of transportation to work. She also enjoys learning the piano and other languages.

Will studied horticulture and general transfer studies at St. Louis Community College. He has past research experience in International culinary arts and enjoys cooking. He joined the Bart Lab in 2022 and has enjoyed working on the microbiome of agricultural soils and the subterranean influence of nitrogen and carbon. Will is also very interested in medicinal cannabis production. When he is not in the lab, he enjoys kayaking, gardening, and hiking.

Spencer graduated with a Bachelors in Science in genetics and biotechnology in 2016 from Brigham Young University where he spent three years studying population genetics of plant species in the intermountain west including the invasive grass Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass). He then completed a doctoral degree in molecular biology and oncological sciences from the University of Utah in 2022, in the lab of Dr Jay Gertz where he studied the molecular and genomic effects of mutations in the estrogen receptor alpha protein in breast cancer. In graduate school, he found that his interests were more in the plant and agricultural sciences and developed a particular fascination in the interconnectedness of plants and their soil environments including soil microbial communities. In the Bart Lab, Spencer works on the SINC project to identify and isolate plant-beneficial microbes and their supporting community of “helper” microbes using microbial, genomic, and computational approaches. Outside of the lab, Spencer loves learning about farming and healthy land management practices, raising animals, and gardening. He also loves hunting and fishing, bird watching, gardening, hiking, and camping, and spending any time he can with his wife and two children.