Rozalynne Samira, Ph.D.

Research Interests

Dr. Rozalynne Samira is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Texas Tech University, where she leads a research program focused on plant–microbe interactions, stress biology, and molecular plant pathology. Her research explores how plants communicate with and shape their associated microbial communities, particularly under nutrient limitation, disease pressure, and environmental stress conditions. By integrating molecular biology, genomics, metabolomics, and imaging-based approaches, her work aims to uncover mechanisms that can be leveraged to improve crop resilience and sustainable agriculture.

Beyond research, Dr. Samira is deeply committed to mentoring and scientific outreach. Her lab emphasizes multidisciplinary training and seeks to prepare the next generation of scientists to address emerging challenges in plant health, food security, and sustainable agriculture.

Background

Dr. Samira received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biotechnology from Bangalore University and later earned an M.Phil. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of Dhaka. She completed her Ph.D. in Plant Biology at North Carolina State University, where her doctoral research investigated gene regulatory networks governing plant responses to iron deficiency and cyst nematode infection.

Prior to joining the TTU faculty, Dr. Samira served as a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance (IGCAST) at Texas Tech, where she studied the intersection of metabolic and gene regulatory pathways during abiotic and biotic stress responses in crop plants. She also completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University.

Her scientific contributions and academic excellence have been recognized through several prestigious awards, including the National Science and Information & Communication Technology (NSICT) Fellowship and the Prime Minister’s Higher Education and Research Scholarship awarded by the Government of Bangladesh. Before pursuing her doctoral training in the United States, Dr. Samira served as a Lecturer in the Department of Biotechnology at University of Science and Technology Chittagong from 2005 to 2008.

Teaching

PSS 4315 Introductory Plant Pathology

PSS 5425 Advance Plant Pathology