Leandra Knight

Leandra Knight has over 20 years of work experience in research and horticulture. In 1999, they began their career as a Spanish to English Scientific Translator at the Plant Biotechnology Institute. In 2000, they joined Akkadix Corp as a Research Associate, where they completed high through-put subcloning of kinase genes and developed and improved standard operating procedures. In 2001, they worked as a Graduate Laboratory Technician at the Entomology and Nematology Department of the University of Florida in the Dr. Liburd Lab. In 2002, they worked as a Graduate Laboratory Technician at the Plant Pathology Department of the University of Florida in the Dr. Jeffrey Jones Lab. In 2003, they took on a Summer Intern role at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. In 2005, they joined Cibus US LLC as a Research Associate, where they tested herbicide resistant rice and canola calli and optimized the AS-PCR technique. In 2011, they began working as a Jr. Horticulturist at Famgro Farms / Famgro Leasing, LLC, where they germinated, maintained and tracked plants and monitored pest, pathogen and nutrient levels in the farm hydroponics system. In 2015, they joined the USDA-APHIS-CPHST as a Research Assistant, where they completed verifying four protocols for conventional, qPCR, and sequencing and generated over 1,080 Sanger sequences for 135 Phytophthora species. In 2021, they joined KeyGene as a Senior Research Associate, and in 2022 they joined OriGene in the same capacity.

Leandra Knight began their educational career at the University of California, Berkeley, where they earned a BS in Plant and Microbial Biology with an emphasis in Genetics between 1994 and 1998. Leandra then continued their education at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where they studied Plant Medical Doctor from 2001 to 2004.