Department of Plant Biology

About Us

The Department of Plant Biology is located on the Stanford Campus. Scientists here study the most basic problems of how plants function and grow. Our scientists range in expertise from high school interns and undergraduates through graduate students to postdoctoral fellows and full time staff members. Our work is funded through a combination of Carnegie endowment and research grants from federal and private sources.

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Why is plant biology important?

Life on earth is not possible without plants. Plants are the primary conduit for the flow of energy from the sun into living organisms and constitute more than 90% of the Earth's biomass. Plants are the source of our food, provide us shelter, shape our environment and supply us with medications. Understanding the basic mechanisms of plant life provides a foundation for solving problems faced by agriculture, the environment, and medicine and for developing practices that enable global sustainability.

Carnegie’s Frommer elected to German Academy

July 30, 2015 09:45 PM

Stanford, CA—Wolf B. Frommer, Director of Carnegie’s Department of Plant Biology, has been elected as a member of the German Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina, one of the world’s oldest national academies. Leopoldina has a membership of about 1,500 outstanding scientists from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other nations. The organization is “dedicated to the advancement of science for the benefit of humankind and to the goal of shaping...

Carnegie and friends celebrate Arthur Grossman's 65th birthday

June 26, 2015 01:44 PM

Researchers and friends from around the world gathered on June 24th and 25th at the Department of Plant Biology to celebrate the achievements of Carnegie's Arthur Grossman with a symposium in his honor. Grossman's many contributions include major advances in our molecular understanding of how photosynthetic organisms acclimate to changes in their environment; as well as training several generations of scientists, many of who are now leaders in...

Zhiyong Wang Receives Germany’s Humboldt Research Award

June 16, 2015 09:10 PM

Washington, DC— Carnegie’s Zhiyong Wang will receive the Humboldt Research Award, one of Germany’s most-prestigious prizes.

Scientific Communication Workshop 2015

May 12, 2015 07:55 PM

The aim of these courses is to introduce graduate students to the principles of scientific communication: writing a journal paper; making an effective scientific conference poster; and making a professional seminar or conference oral presentation of complex scientific material. The presenter is multi-disciplinary and the courses are adapted to each graduate school. Heather Silyn-Roberts, BSc, PhD Department of...

Winslow Briggs: where is he now?

March 31, 2015 02:38 PM

The Newsletter of the American Society of Plant Biologists has asked Winslow Briggs to write an overview of his career. Winslow provides a beautiful overview over his post-retirement career, or better said, his two careers—his first as a scientist and his second as a ranger at the Henry W. Coe Park in California, which has led to new scientific projects in his active research lab.