The Division congratulates Shawn Thomas on being selected for the Interdisciplinary Plant Group's Community Award.

The Interdisciplinary Plant Group (IPG) is a community of MU faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals who are pursuing novel, creative, and transformative ideas in the field of plant biology. Its Community Award recognizes members who demonstrate exceptional efforts in support of the plant biology community on campus.

“Shawn has dedicated extensive time and effort to serving the IPG community over the past few years,” shared Dr. David Braun, Director of the IPG and Professor of Biological Sciences and Plant Sciences.

Dr. Braun mentioned Shawn’s contributions to this group's IPG Symposium, including serving on this year's organizing committee, co-writing a grant for funds to offset symposium costs, and leading an advertising campaign that resulted in a new symposium sponsor. Dr. Braun also lauded Shawn’s efforts in co-developing a data science in plant biology course and coordinating Mizzou’s Bioinformatics in Plant Sciences program for three years.

“For the BIPS program, Shawn mentored 15+ IPG undergraduates and helped them present at multiple internal and external conferences and write/publish four manuscripts,” says Braun.

Shawn is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate co-advised by Dr. Jacob Washburn and Dr. J. Chris Pires. His research investigates the role of genome duplication in the emergence of novel traits using wild relatives of mustard crops as his model system.