Cindy Gee

Bio: Cynthia (Cindy) completed her PhD in plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley, with Kris Niyogi and Alizée Malnoë, where she studied photosynthesis and photoprotection for enhanced crop productivity. Afterwards, she joined the biotechnology company, Sound Agriculture, where she was introduced to the field of synthetic fertilizer alternatives for sustainable agriculture, and the need for effective and compatible technologies for farmers. As a Stanford Energy Postdoctoral Fellow, Cindy will be working on a compatible solution by engineering crop plants with nitrogen-fixing capabilities. Outside of the lab, Cindy enjoys running, hiking, crafting, and playing with her cats.

Postdoctoral research project: Engineering synthetic symbioses for nitrogen-fixing crop plants.  Modern agriculture depends heavily on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, but its production and use require large amounts of fossil fuel energy and contribute to climate change, water pollution, and the carbon intensity score of agriculture-based biofuels. As a Stanford Energy Postdoctoral Fellow, Cindy will focus on developing a new, nature-inspired way to supply crops with nitrogen without synthetic fertilizers. This will involve engineering a synthetic partnership between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and plant cells to produce nitrogen-fixing crop plants. While legumes currently form such partnerships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, extending this capability to other crops would substantially decrease the economic and environmental impacts of synthetic fertilizer and transform our agricultural system.

Research focus:  Environmental Impacts - Sustainable Agriculture

Advisors:  Ellen Yeh - Pathology | Sindy Tang - Bioengineering