Samantha is a doctoral student and graduate research assistant at the University of Florida’s Environmental Horticulture Department. Samantha came to the University of Florida after earning a B.S. from Florida Southern College’s Honor College, majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry. It was a combination of the frontiers explored in molecular biology and biochemistry classes along with an enthralling lecture on utilizing science for crop improvement from an Honors College professor that led Samantha to take an initial interest in this field. The undergraduate research projects she spearheaded on DNA barcoding, protein expression, and methylome analysis are what cemented her intentions of a career in research. While the quest for knowledge is ubiquitous among researchers, Samantha says her real motivation for pursuing agricultural research is to utilize genetic, biochemical, and molecular findings to help feed the world. Samantha is working for Dr. Dave Clark and her doctoral research is centered upon a biochemical and molecular approach to breeding better basil.

Adviser: Dr. Dave Clark

Samantha Rose Burrell CV

• EDUCATION
  • Bachelor of Science in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry from the Honors College at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL, 2017, Magna Cum Laude
• INTERNSHIP

  Kappa Delta Orthopaedic Research Foundation Internship at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN Summer 2016

• PUBLICATIONS

  GOOGLE SCHOLAR

• RECENT SERVICES AND HONORS

  Grinter Fellowship - 2018

• RESEARCH

  My doctoral research under Dr. Dave Clark is centered on introducing molecular and biochemical approaches to an applied breeding program in Ocimum basilicum, or Sweet Basil. Although Sweet Basil is the most popular consumer herb in the United States, there is still a large gap in the knowledge on its genetics and biochemistry. Getting a better idea of what breeding potential there is for Sweet Basil, both genetic and biochemical, and how to accelerate breeding goals utilizing such approaches, are the ultimate goals of my project.