Shivranjani Baruah is a PhD student in the field of plant pathology and plant-microbe biology. Her primary research interest lies in exploring the intricacies of plant-pathogen interactions at the molecular level in order to inform decision-making related to crop protection. Shivranjani holds a master’s degree in microbiology from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta University, and a bachelor’s from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. While pursuing her master’s degree, Shivranjani was accepted into the Khorana Program for Scholars, which allowed her to study genetic resistance in grapevine to nematodes and salinity stress at the University of California, Davis. Prior to joining Cornell, she studied at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, where she researched plant phenology in a tropical Indian forest in the Western Ghats. Shivranjani strongly believes in the potential for plant and pathogen biology to inform applications in plant breeding and, ultimately, in the development of disease-resistant varieties.