St. Louis, Missouri
July 18,  2000

Today the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced the appointment of two additional scientists to its growing team of world-class researchers.

R. Howard Berg, Ph.D., has been appointed to the position of Associate Member and Director of the Danforth Center’s Integrated Microscopy Facility.

Dr. Berg, formerly an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Cell Sciences at the University of Memphis, began his work at the Danforth Center on July 1, 2000. He completed his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agriculture as well his Ph.D. in Agronomy at the University of Florida. Dr. Berg’s research interests include understanding how plant cells respond to their surroundings, in particular their responses to symbiotic microorganisms. He is a leading cell biologist in the study of nitrogen fixing actinorhizal plants.

Berg’s work at the Center will use state of the art light and electron microscopy to analyze the behavior of gene products in living plant cells. He plans to make the Danforth Center’s microscopy facility a world-class leader in imaging analysis of plant cells.

Erik E. Nielsen, Ph.D., has been appointed to the position of Assistant Member in Cell Biology.

Dr. Nielsen, currently a post-doctoral fellow at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, will move to St. Louis and begin his work at the Danforth Center in January 2001.

Dr. Nielsen completed his B.S. degree in Biochemistry at Purdue University, and his Ph.D. in Botany and Plant Pathology at Michigan State University. His research interests include understanding at a molecular level how structural changes within plant cells during development result in the generation of tissues and organs such as leaves, flowers, roots and stems. Dr. Nielsen’s work at the Danforth Center will focus on studies in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, combining video and microscopic technologies to visualize cellular changes in real time.
Better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms by which plants grow and develop will aid in the rational design of improved crops.

The Danforth Center is a not-for-profit research institution. Its state-of-the-art 170,000 square foot
research facility that will ultimately house up to 250 scientists is currently under construction in Creve Coeur. The Center was founded in 1998 as the product of a unique and innovative partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Monsanto Company, Purdue University, and Washington University in St. Louis. The mission of the Danforth Center is to increase understanding of basic plant biology; to apply new knowledge to help sustain productivity in agriculture, forestry, and allied fields; to facilitate the rapid development and commercialization of promising technologies and products; and to contribute to the education and training of graduate and postdoctoral students, scientists, and technicians from around the world.

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