Texas Tech has appointed Rozalynne Samira, an international scholar in plant molecular pathology and molecular biology, as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Plant & Soil Science. She began her new role Sept. 1, university officials said.
Samira is expected to build a research program focused on the plant-microbe interaction, applying genomic tools to improve environmental stress tolerance in crops such as cotton and sorghum, both central to West Texas agriculture.
“Establishing a comprehensive plant pathology program at Texas Tech allows me to explore the intricate interactions between plants and their microbial communities, with the goal of developing sustainable strategies for disease management,” Samira said. She added that she looked forward to training young scientists “to address current and future agricultural challenges.”
This fall she is teaching courses introductory plant pathology and developing advanced plant pathology course for graduate level, available to both in-person and distance learners.
Samira’s previous research has examined cellular and molecular responses to environmental stresses in Arabidopsis, jute, sorghum and maize. At Texas Tech, she aims to expand that work into grant-funded projects examining the crosstalk between metabolic and gene-regulatory pathways under biotic and abiotic stress conditions.
Before joining the faculty, Samira was a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University. She also held earlier research positions at N.C. State and the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh.
A native of Bangladesh, Samira earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biotechnology from Bangalore University, India, and a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Dhaka, and a Ph.D. in plant biology from N.C. State. She is a member of the American Society of Plant Biologists and the American Phytopathological Society.
Her honors include the National Science and Information & Communication Technology Fellowship and the Prime Minister Higher Education and Research Scholarship, two of Bangladesh’s most competitive awards for scientific research.
CONTACT: Krishna Jagadish, Interim Chair and Professor, Department of Plant & Soil Science, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-7953 or kjagadish.sv@ttu.edu
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