Meet our faculty: Hannah McMillan

Academic focus: Plant-microbiome-environment interactions

Research summary: Plants interact simultaneously with microbes and their abiotic environment, but molecular studies often focus only on interactions with one or the other. My research combines plants, their microbiomes and environmental conditions like elevated temperature to ask how higher order, three-way interactions impact plant health in a changing climate. We leverage model organisms and defined microbial communities to characterize new molecular interaction mechanisms that drive emergent plant phenotypes at elevated temperature. We then test our basic findings in crop systems with the goal of identifying new agricultural targets to improve plant performance in new environments. Overall, our goal is to begin untangling fundamental principles of complex three-way interactions to improve crop resilience in a warming climate and promote food security worldwide.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I really enjoy gardening, and I’m excited to get a vegetable garden started once everything begins to thaw! I’m also a big fan of anything arts related, especially dance and music. Whether it’s going to live performances or playing my cello in the community orchestra, it’s great to have a creative outlet and connect with others in the community.

What brought you to Cornell CALS?

I was really drawn to the people in the department and how much everyone is collaborating to answer the “big questions” in plant-microbe biology. More and more I think the questions we are all asking require expertise from multiple disciplines, so having enthusiastic collaborators is critical. The land-grant mission also means we have incredible researchers doing applied work and outreach specialists, which gives my lab a unique opportunity to work with experts that can help translate basic findings to the field and to growers.

What is an interesting fact about your field of study that you think everyone should know?

There is still so much we don’t know about plant-microbe interactions! Thinking deeply about plant microbiome communities and their function is just one area of new and exciting scientific discovery. Each new piece of information we gain leads us to new questions that help expand our concept of how molecular details contribute to the function of a system overall.

Why did you feel inspired to pursue a career in this field? 

We’re living in an exciting time for scientific discovery with recent advances in sequencing technology and AI. We can generate so much data so quickly and in such exquisite detail and now we are also seeing an increase in ways to quickly process, analyze and interpret all that information. For someone like me who is interested in understanding the mechanisms behind complex interactions at multiple scales, these tools allow us to narrow down the experimental space and integrate many different data types in ways that were difficult or impossible even five years ago. I’m really excited to use these new approaches to build on the fundamental discoveries in simplified systems.

What advice do you have for students interested in your field of study? 

Don’t be afraid to send an email or ask your question. My entire career started because I cold-emailed a lab asking for a job. I had a truly fantastic experience and fell in love with plant-microbe research. So just do it – just take a chance even if you’re nervous at first!

What are your current or future outreach/extension projects?

I’m very passionate about food security, and I am looking forward to engaging with food pantries and programs at Cornell and in the wider community. We always think about food security and hunger on a global scale, but it’s easy to overlook food insecurity happening on campus or in your own neighborhood. My hope is that my research contributes to improving crop performance and food security in the future, but in the meantime I plan to design my outreach program around local efforts to support our community.