Welcome!

Welcome to the Holbrook lab! We study the physics and physiology of vascular transport in plants with the goal of understanding how constraints on the movement of water and solutes between soil and leaves influences ecological and evolutionary processes. Currently, we are working on questions relating to cavitation, stomatal mechanics, leaf hydraulic design, and xylem evolution.

Holbrook Lab 2016 — Lab photo 2016. Top row: Teressa Alexander, Cynthia Gerlein-Safdi, Greg Ceccantini, Jess Gersony, Alexandre "Pono" Ponomarenko, Walton "Tinker" Green. Bottom row: Nathan Mueller, Kadeem Gilbert, Fulton "Tony" Rockwell, Noel Michele "Missy" Holbrook, Uri Hochberg, Clement Quintard, Yongjiang "John" Zhang. Not pictured: Laura Clerx, Robinson "Wally" Fulweiler, Juan Losada, Bridget Power and Jessica Savage

Recent Publications

Huggett, Brett A., Jessica A. Savage, Guang-You Hao, Evan L. Preisser, and N. Michele Holbrook. 2018. “Impact of hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) infestation on xylem structure and function and leaf physiologyin eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis).” Functional Plant Biology 45: 501–508. Publisher's Version

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Rockwell, Fulton E, Jessica T Gersony, and Michele N Holbrook. 2018. “Where does Münch flow begin? Sucrose transport in the pre-phloem path.” Current Opinion in Plant Biology 43: 101-107. Publisher's Version

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Holbrook, N. Michele, and Michael Knoblauch. 2018. “Physiology and metabolism: Phloem: a supracellular highway for the transport of sugars, signals, and pathogens.” Current Opinion in Plant Biology 43: iii-vii. Publisher's Version

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Hao, Guang-You, N. Michele Holbrook, Maciej A. Zwieniecki, Vincent P. Gutschick, and Hormoz BassiriRad. 2018. “Coordinated responses of plant hydraulic architecture with the reduction of stomatal conductance under elevated CO2 concentration.” Tree Physiology 38 (7): 1041–1052. Publisher's Version

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Catherine Chamberlain participated in the 2020 Annual Harvard Forest Ecology Symposium

September 22, 2020

Catherine Chamberlain participated in the 2020 Annual Harvard Forest Ecology Symposium which was held virtually on September 22nd. The title of her talk was, "Understanding plant phenology and false spring risk in a warming world." Great work, Cat! Read more about Catherine Chamberlain participated in the 2020 Annual Harvard Forest Ecology Symposium

Congratulations to graduate student award winners Anju and Meghan!

August 27, 2020

Congratulations to Anju Manandhar who was the recipient of the Harvard Center for Biological Imaging Simmons Award for her project, "Structural mechanism of stomatal movement (How do leaves have pores that open and close?)!"

Congratulations also to Meghan Blumstein who was awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology: National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI), “Untangling the environmental and genetic drivers of phenological timing in red oak (Quercus rubra) to improve climate predictions!"

Way to go, Anju and Meghan!

Congratulations to Meghan Blumstein!

August 6, 2020

Congratulations to Meghan Blumstein who successfully defended her thesis entitled, "The plastic and adaptive potential of sugar storage in temperate trees under climate change on Thursday, August 6, 2020. We wish Meghan all the best in her future endeavors!

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#ShutDownSTEM and #ShutDownAcademia initiatives

June 10, 2020

The Holbrook lab participated in the #ShutDownSTEM and #ShutDownAcademia initiatives on June 10th in support of our friends and colleagues of color. During this time, we met virtually as a group to discuss systemic racism, its impact in the sciences and academia and to exchange ideas on how to maintain a supportive and inclusive work environment going forward. As a lab, we value diversity and celebrate the uniqueness of all individuals. #BlackLivesMatter

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Welcome new lab members!

January 2, 2020

Welcome to new Holbrook Lab members, Yakir Preisler, Anna Sala, and Melissa Mai! We're excited to have them join us!

Missy Holbrook to lead Harvard Alumni Association trip to Cairo, Egypt from Dec. 27th to Jan. 5th

December 27, 2019

Prof. Missy Holbrook will be leading a trip to Cairo, Egypt on behalf of Harvard's Alumni Association from Dec. 27- Jan. 5, 2020. The trip, known as "A Family Adventure: Egypt & the Nile" will include a tour of one of Giza’s Great Pyramids, a view of the Sphinx up close, and a visit to Luxor’s temples. In Luxor, travelers will board the intimate Sanctuary Nile Adventurer for a four-night cruise to...

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