Laura Boykin Okalebo

Laura Boykin Okalebo, PhD, is a Senior Scientific Consultant at The BioTeam, Inc. since January 2021, focusing on accelerating scientific advancements. Previously, Laura served as CEO, Director, and Co-Founder of the Cassava Virus Action Project from January 2020 to 2021, working to enhance portable genomics for farmers in East Africa to improve crop yields. As a Senior Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia from November 2012 to December 2019, Laura led a lab dedicated to using genomics and phylogenetics to investigate whitefly evolution and virus transmission. Prior experience includes a postdoctoral position at Lincoln University New Zealand, bioinformatics at USDA-ARS, and research at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Laura holds a PhD in Botany/Plant Biology from The University of New Mexico, an MA in Ecology from San Francisco State University, and a BA in Biology from Occidental College.