Kyle Swentowsky, MA

Education

• Cell and Developmental Biology, B.S., University of California - Santa Barbara, 2014

• Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, M.A., University of California - Santa Barbara, 2014

• Plant Biology, Ph.D., University of Georgia, Expected 2021

Bio

Kyle received his M.A. in MCDB from UCSB in 2016 and his B.S. in Cell and Developmental Biology from UCSB in 2014. He is currently a Ph.D candidate at the University of Georgia in the Department of Plant Biology.

Early during his undergraduate career, Kyle became interested in botany and started work as an undergraduate researcher in the Mazer Lab where the group worked on phenological traits such as flowering time in several species of wildflower that belong to the genus Clarkia. Since Kyle was interested in molecular biology research, he began working as a researcher in the Finkelstein Lab during his senior year and would eventually complete a Master’s thesis under Dr. Finkelstein. Kyle’s work in the Finkelstein Lab focused on ABA signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana where he discovered and validated novel interactions with the ABA-related transcription factor ABI4. His experience in working with plants at the molecular level motivated Kyle to pursue a doctorate degree at a large plant-focused institution.

At the University of Georgia, Kyle joined the lab of Kelly Dawe whose group primarily studies genetics and genomics in the major crop maize (corn). Kyle’s research in the Dawe Lab spans cell biology, genetics, and bioinformatics and takes two main emphases. First, Kyle studies kinesin proteins that bind heterochromatic knobs during meiosis leading to their selfish inheritance. The other aspect of Kyle’s Ph.D work is centered on genetic mapping of genomic loci that control the switch between an annual and perennial plant life cycle in a species closely related to maize. Kyle anticipates on graduating during the Summer of 2021 and plans to pursue post-doctoral research studying aspects of perennial plant growth from a plant development perspective.

Kyle has also maintained an active interest in teaching. While in Santa Barbara, Kyle taught several MCDB courses and has recently co-taught a graduate-level Plant Cytogenetics course in Georgia. While enjoying all the South has to offer, Kyle deeply misses Santa Barbara and scuba diving the California Channel Islands.