People

Principal Investigator

Aymeric Goyer

Associate Professor

Aymeric Goyer grew up in Rennes area, France. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Plant Biology from the University of Rennes I, France, and a Doctoral degree in Molecular and Cellular Plant Biology from the University of Paris XI, France. Upon graduation, Dr. Goyer held a postdoctoral position with Dr. Andrew Hanson at the University of Florida, then a Research Associate position with Dr. Roy Navarre at Washington State University. In 2008, he moved to Oregon State University as a faculty at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hermiston, OR. In 2022, he moved to the Oregon State University main campus in Corvallis, OR, as a faculty in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. 

Postdocs

David Handy

David previously attended Florida Institute of Technology where he received a BS in Astrobiology and PhD in Biological Sciences. His experience in space plant biology began during his undergraduate years when he worked on method-development for crop production in Martian regolith simulant. For his dissertation titled “Investigating Microbe-Plant Symbioses in Space”, David collaborated with scientists at NASA’s Kennedy space center to study microbes isolated from plants grown aboard the International Space Station. These studies analyzed how microgravity effects bacterial plant growth promoting phenotypes, changes in host-microbe dynamics in microgravity environments. Now, at OSU, David brings his expertise in regolith to grow potatoes in Lunar regolith simulant in preparation for NASA’s plans to establish permanent, sustainable stations on the Moon.

Graduate students

Keonny Cosek

Keonny graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside in 2022. While there from 2021 to 2023, she worked under the guidance of Dr. Dawn Nagel as an undergraduate and later as a lab technician. During her time there she focused on characterizing circadian clock-dependent heat shock proteins that were responsive to various abiotic stressors in-planta. She joined the Goyer Lab in 2023 as a Ph.D. student where she is currently investigating the defense responses triggered by combined potato virus Y and elevated temperatures in potato.

Undergraduate students

Ravi Phillipps

Ravi is currently an undergraduate student in the Botany and Plant Pathology department with a focus on cell, molecular and genomic biology in addition to chemistry. Ravi joined the lab in early 2023 and has been involved in several projects throughout his time in the Goyer lab. His current research focuses primarily on characterizing the effect of soil thiamin supplementation on potato yield, and the effect of potassium fertilizer on potato chemical composition. 

Kierstin Thompson

Medora Knudson

I’m Medora Knudson, a transfer junior student in the College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU, pursuing a B.S. In Soil Science with a minor in Botany. With a deep passion for agriculture, plants, and soil ecosystems, I’m committed to understanding the intricate relationships between soil health and plants, specifically in agriculture. I am currently assisting with the research on growing potatoes in lunar regolith.

Anika Loeffler

I am a second-year geology undergraduate major with minors in biology and psychology. As an URSA student, I am assisting with a project that explores the impact of lunar regolith on potatoes.

Sydney Campbell

Sydney is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in botany with a minor in chemistry. She has a special interest in astrobiology/astrobotany and is assisting Dr. David Handy with studying the effects Lunar regolith simulant has on potato plant growth.

Former lab members

  • Aidan Seidel, College of Ag Science Beginning Researcher
  • Trent Berrian, Master student
  • Sydney Thompson, Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates summer intern, Big Data Science
  • Cayla Rosene, College of Ag Science Beginning Researcher
  • Kate Howe, College of Ag Science Beginning Researcher
  • Carson Flagg, Branch Experiment Station intern
  • Carol Bvindi, Postdoctoral Scholar
  • Maria Tejeda, High School student
  • Kirsten Jones, Branch Experiment Station intern
  • Max M. Combest, Master student
  • Zeferino Araiza, High School student
  • Lin Thura, Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates summer intern, Big Data Science
  • Mael Picard, International undergraduate student
  • Bruce R. Robinson, Master student 
  • Chloé Volant, Master student
  • Josephine Antwi, Postdoctoral Researcher (Co-advised with Dr. Silvia Rondon) 
  • Amber Vinchesi, Postdoctoral Researcher (Co-advised with Dr. Silvia Rondon) 
  • Wei Dong, Postdoctoral Researcher 
  • Michael Storagee, Undergraduate student
  • Mark Barnett, Undergraduate student 
  • Taryn Goodwin, Undergraduate student
  • Matthew Warman, Intern 
  • Julien Pellé, International Intern 
  • Sneha Challa, International Intern
  • Kortney Sweek, High School student and Undergraduate student 
  • Brandy White, High School student
  • Ethan Pitzer, High School student
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