Join Us for the 22nd Annual Thornton-Massa Lecture Series

Colorado State University is proud to welcome Dr. José R. Dinneny as the distinguished speaker for the 2025 Thornton-Massa Lecture Series. This two-day event offers a unique opportunity to explore the future of agriculture and plant biology through the lens of a world-renowned scientist.

Scientific Lecture

• Date: Monday, September 29, 2025
• Time: 3:00 p.m.
• Location: BHSCI A101
• Open to: CSU Faculty, Staff, and Students

Topic: Understanding the Cellular and Organ-Scale Mechanisms Plants Use to Survive with Limited Water

The Dinneny lab investigates how cellular and developmental processes enable plants to survive limited and heterogeneous water availability. I will present work on mechanisms that protect cells from hyperosmotic stress by maintaining plasma membrane–cell wall attachments, as well as studies on how roots sense and respond to spatial variation in soil moisture through local regulation of branching and anatomy. Together, these findings illustrate multi-scale plant adaptation strategies and highlight pathways for potential crop improvement.