Hello! My name is Singha Raj Dhungana. I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Missouri-Columbia in the lab of Dr. David Braun. I graduated on May 2022 with a PhD in Biological Sciences and am currently looking for opportunities to pursue my passion of improving food security by improving agricultural systems and enhancing crops by targeted genomic enhances and precision breeding.
My personal mission is to make scientific contributions and discoveries that can be applied to make more efficient crops with increased yield and nutrition. In the long run, I would like to drive teams that work towards this mission as a consistent, passionate, and motivating leader/colleague.
Background:
I grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal and came to USA to pursue higher education. Coming from a country that relies heavily on agriculture, I grew up with a big garden in my backyard where I helped my mother plant fruits and vegetables. My curiosity of how plants grew from such small seeds to provide food for the entire world drove me to study plants. What I am currently studying is how sugars, the primary energy source for plant growth and development, produced in the leaves are controlled and regulated within various parts of the corn plant. By gaining a better understanding of this process, genomic targets for improving crop quality may be identified.
My hobbies include photography, cooking, baking, playing guitar and listening to music.