People
Caetano Albuquerque
Assistant Professor, Agricultural Plant and Soil Sciences, California State University, Monterey Bay
Plant physiologist. I study how plants lose and recover water transport during drought, from the xylem conduit to the whole plant.
47 undergraduates and three master's students mentored since 2016, and one visiting postdoctoral scholar hosted. Students have given 16 conference presentations since 2024.
Research training
Students learn plant physiology methods by using them on their own questions, with growing independence at each step.
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1. Learn a protocol
Each student starts by learning one measurement well, with written protocols and practice on the bench.
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2. Run the measurement
Students collect their own dataset: water potential, gas exchange, pressure-volume curves, leaf hydraulic conductance, anatomy or microCT scans.
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3. Analyze and present
They analyze the data themselves and present it as a poster at regional and national meetings.
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4. Publish
Students take a role in a manuscript when their work becomes part of a paper. Student authors are marked on the Publications page.
Current lab members
- Melissa Martinez
- Ignacio Maravilla, leads the Plant Physiology course research experience
- Lydia Mattsson-Boze
- Ralph Trujillo
- Jonathan Jaime
- Jason Morris
- Oscar Lopez Rodriguez
- Manuel Venancio-Guzman
- Javier Blanco Ortega
- Popocatepetl Perez-Vargas
- Nathalie Lopez
Visiting scholar hosted
- Leandro Hahn, January to July 2025. Visiting postdoctoral scholar from EPAGRI (Santa Catarina State Agricultural Research and Extension, Brazil), working on water and nutrient use efficiency in vegetable crops.
Graduate students co-mentored
Eduardo Barragan, Jesse Gomez, Larissa Garcia (master's, Cal State LA, 2021 to 2023)
Eduardo Barragan and Jesse Gomez are now PhD students, at UCLA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Alumni
CSU Monterey Bay
Joe Perez (summer research internship at Stanford University), Angela Diaz, Bella Hartman, Fatima Zamora, Matthijs De Vries (now in a master's program in the Netherlands), Asamahan Murran, Kah'mauri Norwood, Jorge Flores, Madison Villapando, Jose Zarazua
Cal State LA
Marisha Flemister, Rebecca Rios, Roberto Hernandez, Isabela Pedro, Maryam Shehab, Alexander Gomez, Mary Ramirez, Elizabeth Guadarrama, Emily Buch-Abaj, Ana Garcia, Joselin Tol, Gustavo Argueta, Lisette Garnica, Alejandra Garcia, Melissa Gonzalez
UC Davis and USDA-ARS
Luna Santaolalla, Jack Grom, Daniel Ribeiro (high school researcher, now a PhD candidate at Texas A&M University)
Posters, internships and other lab news are on the News page.