Arinder Arora

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Dr. Arora has joined the Bonning lab to Dr. Arora is working on gut receptors used by viruses that infect honey bees. He has extensive experience in insect molecular biology, RNAi, and paratransgenesis. During his postdoctoral work at Cornell University, he developed RNAi systems in various phloem feeding hemipteran insects. He holds a Ph.D. in Biology from University of New Mexico.

Grace Crummer

Research Coordinator

Grace Crummer joined Dr. Bonning's group as Coordinator of the CAMTech IUCRC in October 2018. She has a background in stable isotope ecology, ecosystem ecology, plant physiological ecology, and large interdisciplinary program management. She holds an MS in Botany from UF and a BA in Environmental Science & Policy from Duke.

Saptarshi Ghosh

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Dr. Ghosh joined the lab in November 2022 following postdoctoral work at the Agricultural Research Organisation Volcani Center in Bet Dagan, Israel and the University of Georgia. He holds a B.S. in Agriculture from the Orissa Institute of Agriculture and Technology, an M.S. in Plant Pathology from the Bangalore University of Agricultural Sciences and a PhD from the University of Greenwich Natural Resources Institute. He has deep expertise in viruses vectored by insects, with a special interest in whiteflies.

Morgana de Souza Miranda

Graduate Student

Morgana S. Miranda joined the Bonning lab in January 2024 as a MSc student. Her work focuses on the use of bacterial pesticidal proteins as alternative strategy for management of Asian citrus psyllid, the vector of citrus greening bacteria in the US. Morgana holds a BS in Agronomy from the Federal University of Vicosa in Brazil, where her research focused on insect resistance to chemical pesticides and bacterial pesticidal proteins.

Ruchir Mishra

Biological Scientist III

Ruchir Mishra has 8 years of experience in the Bacillus thuringiensis field. He is currently working on engineering Bt Cry toxin to enhance its toxicity against lepidopteran insects. His areas of expertise include molecular biology, proteomics, transcriptomics and bioinformatics. He holds a PhD in Entomology, an MPhil in Biochemistry, and an MS in Molecular Cell Biology. 

Clebson dos Santos Tavares

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Clebson S. Tavares joined the Bonning lab in 2019 and graduated in 2023 with a PhD in entomology based on his work on the "Midgut surface proteome of Diaphorina citri and toxicity of gut-targeting insecticidal proteins for use in citrus greening management." His previous research focused on insect resistance to transgenic crops expressing Bt toxins. He holds a MS in Entomology and a BS in Agronomy from the Federal University of Vicosa, Brazil. He is continuing in the lab as a postdoctoral fellow to work on Asian citrus psyllid - Liberibacter asiaticus molecular interactions.

Emily Vu

Graduate Student

Emily joined the Bonning lab as an undergraduate while completing her BS in biochemistry at UF. During this time, she worked on bioassays of Bt toxins on lepidopterans. She now works in the lab as a graduate student in the Genetics and Genomics PhD program. She works on characterizing the virome of the small hive beetle, studying virus replication in the small hive beetle, and has experience in virus sequence discovery.

Na Xie

Postdoctoral Research Associate

nxie@ufl.edu

Dr. Na Xie received her PhD in Molecular Toxicology and Physiology from the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech. Her dissertation focused on explaining the multiple resistance associated with the Rdl mutation on the GABAA receptors and investigated the toxicology of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) in Drosophila melanogaster. She joined the lab in June 2022 to work on Asian citrus psyllids (ACP), with the goal of mitigating the impact of citrus greening. She is excited to broaden her molecular research and insect pest research skills as part of the Bonning Lab.

Ke Wu

Biological Scientist IV, Lab Manager

Dr. Ke Wu joined the Bonning lab in August 2021 as lab manager. Ke has nearly 3 decades of molecular biology research experience in subjects including plants, viruses, rodents, and insects. Ke oversees the daily operation of Dr. Bonning’s lab. Dr. Wu's current research focuses on two areas: 1) developing cell culture systems in which replication of Asian citrus psyllid viruses can be studied; 2) Identifying and investigating the functional roles of the cellular components involved in regulating viral replication using reverse genetics techniques, such as those based on CRISPR/Cas9.