Ripley (former name: Wen-Ping Hsieh) completed her professional training in plant science in Taiwan. She joined the Climate Change and Air Quality Research team in 2016 under the guidance of Dr. Kent Burkey and started her own research lab in the PSRU, USDA-ARS in 2019. 

Salvio has an MS degree in Plant Physiology from the University of Puerto Rico. He joined the Climate Change and Air Quality Research team in 2007. He is an expert in root phenotyping.