Julianna Harden

 I am a first-year PhD student broadly interested in characterizing the fungal diversity associated with culturally and agriculturally significant tropical plants and investigating the functional roles of these fungal communities in relation to host plant health. In Dr. Chelsea Specht’s lab, I will be exploring the genetic diversity of agriculturally and culturally important plants and linking their genotype to fungal endophyte presence to characterize the functional role and potential applications of the endophytes to their host plant. In my free time, I enjoy photography, yoga, fishing, and learning to dance salsa and bachata.