Welcome to the Niyogi lab!
Fighting climate change with photosynthesis
The lab’s long-term research goals are to understand how photosynthetic energy conversion works, how it is regulated, and how it might be improved to help meet the world’s needs for food, fuel, and carbon sequestration to fight climate change.
Current lab members use a wide array of experimental organisms and interdisciplinary approaches to (1) investigate fundamental questions about the regulation of photosynthesis, (2) elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying the operation of the oceanic biological carbon pump, and (3) apply this fundamental knowledge to increase photosynthetic efficiency and carbon sequestration by plants and algae.
We maintain a friendly and interactive lab that values scientific excellence, diversity, creativity, open access, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

News
- New Niyogi lab website is live!Thanks to Cailyn Sakurai and former lab member Megan Ogburn for all their hard work in designing and launching our new website!
- Dynamics of Rubisco regulation by sugar phosphate derivatives and their phosphatasesFormer postdoc Chris Baker contributed to this review article that was published in the Jan. 11 issue of Journal of Experimental Botany.
- Welcome new Ph.D. students!First-year graduate students Efren Gonzalez, Karina Cunningham, and Tonio Chaparro have joined the Niyogi lab after completing their rotations in the fall semester. Welcome to the lab!
- Congratulations, Dhruv, on receiving your Ph.D.!Congratulations to our graduate student Dhruv Patel-Tupper for completing his Ph.D.! We are happy that you’re staying on as a postdoc in the lab for a few months before moving on to the next stage of your career.
- Congratulations, Olia, on your new position!Congratulations to our postdoctoral scholar Olia Gaidarenko on her new position as Scientist at Living Carbon!
- Congratulations, Vincent, on your new position!Congratulations to our postdoctoral scholar Vincent Boudreau on his new position as the Director of Scientific Research at CarbonDrop!
- Publication on increased soybean crop yield was featured on the cover of the 18 August 2022 issue of Science.Niyogi lab Ph.D. student Nina Maryn contributed to this recent publication in Science. Read more about the paper here.
- The Niyogi lab is part of an $11.6 million grant funded by the Department of Energy.The Niyogi lab will work in close collaboration with other researchers at UC Berkeley, LBNL, PNNL, and Colorado School of Mines to genetically engineer Auxenochlorella protothecoides. By harnessing this microalga’s naturally high capacity for lipid biosynthesis, the aim of the project is to develop Auxenochlorella as a photosynthetic platform for production of biofuels and bioproducts
- Congratulations, Tim, on receiving your Ph.D.!Congratulations to our graduate student Tim Jeffers for completing his Ph.D.! We wish you luck on your next big endeavor as a postdoc at NYU.