Posted: January 26, 2021
Dr. Liana Burghardt joined the Department of Plant Science on February 1, 2020, transitioning from a Postdoctoral Scholar position in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Liana Burghardt joined the Department of Plant Science on February 1, 2020, transitioning from a Postdoctoral Scholar position in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the mutually beneficial relationship between leguminous plants and rhizobial bacteria. She is interested in how this relationship responds to stress and ultimately, how this interaction affects plant growth, nutrient cycling, agricultural yields, and resilience.
Dr. Burghardt joined the Department of Plant Science and the Penn State community more broadly to be a part of a growing and dynamic set of researchers who seek to answer integrative questions about plants, microbes, and climate resilience. Huck Institute funding for the Microbiome Center and the Center for Root and Rhizosphere Biology and cross-college graduate programs facilitate interdisciplinary work. A bonus is her love for hiking, mountain biking, and cross-country skiing, for which Central Pennsylvania is known.
In the process of "building a research program that asks if evolutionary ecology principles can be leveraged to enable farmers to manage agricultural systems sustainably," she aims to "create a dynamic team with diverse voices." To this end, this summer, she had the honor of being a founding member of the Plant Science Equity Diversity and Inclusion Committee."
Additionally, Dr. Burghardt is extremely passionate about graduate education and mentorship. She recently introduced a class called 'Professional Development for the Plant Sciences' (currently HORT597) that is offered each Fall semester. The course focuses on topics that are sometimes overlooked but which she believes could not be more critical for advancing students' careers—for instance, engaging in career exploration, developing documents for job applications, creating a professional web presence, and defining goals in an individual development plan.
Since arriving in Happy Valley in the middle of the pandemic, Dr. Burghardt has quickly embraced the Penn State culture. She loves to work with students, technicians, and the whole team to solve problems and ask new questions—and thanks to the hard work of her lab manager Dr. Gina Bledsoe—the lab is up and running! She looks forward to changing mindsets regarding academia. "I want to play an active role in fixing what isn't so great about academia while also acknowledging how fantastic a fit this job is for my colleagues and me!" Dr. Burghardt said.
When asked about what advice she would like to impart to students, she said, "While goal setting is important, so is being open to diversions in that goal structure when opportunities present themselves. Don't forget to enjoy the process because often the process is the goal."
To read more about Dr. Burghardt and her recent publications, visit her lab's page at https://lianaburghardtlab.com.
