Our Leadership
The top level of CABBI decision makers — and how to contact us.
Andrew Leakey: Director
Leakey, a Professor and Department Head of Plant Biology and Professor of Crop Sciences at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is an expert in plant water use efficiency, photosynthesis, respiration and water relations; plant responses in natural and agricultural ecosystems to global environmental change; and adaptation of food and fuel crops to global environmental change, especially drought. His research helps enhance understanding of how the environment impacts ecosystem goods and services and advances efforts to improve and protect crop production and water cycling. His lab performs vertically integrated phenotyping of plant carbon and water relations by combining genetic, molecular, biochemical, physiological and ecological tools to assess plant performance in manipulative field experiments and controlled environment conditions. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield.
Vijay Singh: Deputy Director for Science & Technology
Singh, a Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is the Director of the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL). He leads CABBI commercialization efforts. Singh has years of experience directing federally funded research and has collaborated with dozens of industry partners to develop bioprocessing technologies for food, advanced biofuels, and industrial products. Singh holds 11 patents — five of which are licensed to major industrial biotech and engineering companies. He received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering in 1998 from Illinois.
Elizabeth Murphy: Deputy Director for Research Strategy & Management
Murphy, who joined CABBI in 2018 and became Program Manager in 2019, is Managing Director at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).
Address: 1101 W. Peabody, Suite 336 (NSRC)
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: 217-300-6864
Donald Ort: Deputy Director for Research & Development
Ort is the Robert Emerson Professor of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. An expert in photosynthesis and photosynthetic energy transduction, Ort researches improving photosynthetic efficiency, the molecular and biochemical basis of environmental interactions with crop plants, and ecological genomics. He has developed high-throughput imaging chlorophyll fluorescence systems for rapid non-destructive identification of cross progeny and transformants with improved photosynthetic efficiency. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Biochemistry in 1974 from Michigan State University.
Matthew Hudson: Chair of the Science Integration Committee (SInC)
Hudson uses supercomputing and DNA sequencing to solve problems in plant, animal, and human genetics. His current research focuses on how crops are bred and on ways to treat and prevent plant, animal, and human diseases. He is particularly interested in the genetics of crop traits and the genetic and molecular interactions of soybeans with pathogens, pests, and other organisms.
CABBI Leadership Chart
Project Management Contact
Program Manager Celine Young
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 1135
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-265-4228
Email: chyoung@illinois.edu
Q&A with Young >>>
Project Management Team Members
Research Coordinator Mary Albrecht
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 1137
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-300-9576
Email: maryalbr@illinois.edu
Research Coordinator Michael Ponte
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 1139
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-300-6816
Email: ponte1@illinois.edu
Research Coordinator Anna Fedders
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 1139
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-300-3097
Email: afedder2@illinois.edu
Laboratory Manager Lucienne Burrus
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 1200
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-300-6418
Email: lburrus@illinois.edu
Data Manager Leslie Stoecker
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 1137
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-2185
Email: lensor@illinois.edu
Data Technician Katie Bowman
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 1137
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-300-1172
Email: krhodges@illinois.edu
Field & Greenhouse Technician
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 1137
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
717-617-4840
Email: tracylj@illinois.edu
Occupational Safety Coordinator Robert Mann
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Room 2602
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-244-8346; 217-840-7964 (C)
Email: bobmann@illinois.edu
Lead Theme Administrator Donelle Ash
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB),
1 South Reception Desk
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-244-1586
Email: dtestory@illinois.edu
Communications Contact
Director Tony Mancuso
Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)
1101 W. Peabody, Suite 356 (NSRC)
Urbana, IL 61801
217-300-3546
Email: tmancuso@illinois.edu
Communications Team Members
Specialist Julie Wurth
Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)
1101 W. Peabody, Suite 338 (NSRC)
Urbana, IL 61801
Email: jwurth@illinois.edu
Specialist April Wendling
Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)
1101 W. Peabody, Suite 338 (NSRC)
Urbana, IL 61801
Email: awendl2@illinois.edu
Media Lab Coordinator Mark Herman
Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)
1101 W. Peabody, Suite 351 (NSRC)
Urbana, IL 61801
Email: maherman@illinois.edu
We’d Love to Hear from You!
Media Requests
CABBI is home to dozens of experts on agriculture, engineering, genomics, biology, chemistry, economics, general sustainability, and more.
Contact information for our scientists and staff can be found throughout our website. If you’re not sure who you need to talk to, send us an email using the form above (or at cabbi-bio@illinois.edu), and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Get in touch with CABBI
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB)
1206 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
MC-195
Phone: 217-333-4599
Email: cabbi-bio@illinois.edu
Visiting CABBI? Check out this handy mass transit map for available bus lines >>>