Des Marais Lab
 Evolutionary Genomics and Ecophysiology
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Research Interests
Plant ecology and evolution, physiology, functional genomics, sustainable agriculture, plant-water relations
The primary focus of research in the Des Marais Lab is to understand the mechanisms of organism-environment interaction. We use tools from molecular, quantitative, and population genetics to identify the physiological basis of plant response to environmental cues, and ask how these mechanisms constrain or facilitate plant breeding and evolutionary change.
DEI statement
Members of the Des Marais Lab feel that the strength and excellence of our community stems from our diversity of identities, experiences, and perspectives. Academia is a mirror of the broader society that we serve, and continues to suffer from systemic prejudices and lack of diversity. In our lab, we actively work to acknowledge and reform our prejudices, and address our privileges. We place the highest priority on fostering a culture that does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, differing physical ability, or age. We strive to achieve scientific excellence through respectfully communicating, supportively collaborating, and actively listening. Our motivation to study biology comes, in part, from the need for environmental stewardship, which we see as intimately tied to social justice. We commit to studying the evolution and ecology of biological diversity through a lens that values and benefits from diversity in our community.
XNews
9 September 2025
New paper from the lab combines metabolomics and transcriptomics to characterize plant responses to aspects of environmental change.
2 September 2025
Junchi (Ivan) Cui joins the lab as an MEng student, following receiving his Bachelors Degree at Beijing Normal University. Welcome, Ivan!
2 September 2025
Charlie has re-joined the lab as a PhD student! They will be supported by an NSF Pre-doctoral Fellowship, and co-advised by Prof. Sam Scarpino at Northeastern. Welcome back!
13 August 2025
Jie's first thesis chapter, presenting an ML-based pipeline to estimate leaf cell growth, was just published at the Journal of Experimental Botany.
11 August 2025
Chloe presented work from her thesis at the annual Ecological Society of America meeting in Baltimore.
16 July 2025
Chloe received a fellowship from MIT's new Health and Life Sciences initiative. Congrats, Chloe!!
14 June 2025
Charlie received the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congrats, Charlie!!
2 June 2025
Dave received the 2025 Samuel M. Seegal prize from MIT's School of Engineering, in recognition of his teaching.
May 30 2025
More graduations! Congrats to current UROP student Ananda Santos Figueiredo and former UROP Eldar Urkumbayev!
May 28 2025
Graduation time! Congrats to Lana Van Note, Katie Kitzinger, and Charlie Neufeldt for completing their Masters degrees!!!
May 13 2025
Chloe passed her PhD General Exam II!
May 13 2025
Undergraduate researcher Ananda Santos Figueiredo is the 2025 recipient of MIT's Laya W. Weisner Award, presented to the undergraduate woman who has best supported our community while maintaining an excellent academic record. Congratulations, Ananda!!!!
May 12 2025
Former undergraduate researcher Eldar Urkumbayev was awarded the 2025 CEE Leadership and Community Award. Congratulations, Eldar!!
May 12 2025
Dave was awarded the 2025 Samuel M. Seegal Prize from MIT's School of Engineering for "inspiring students to pursue and achieve excellence."
March 31 2025
Meghan's study on using genetic data to improve urban heat island modeling is out in PNAS! And it got some nice coverage at MIT News.
Jan 15 2025
The Des Marais Lab has been awarded a JWAFS Grand Challenge grant to improve nutrient use efficiency in crops, in a project led by Prof. Chris Voigt.
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