Ryoko Oono

Ryoko Oono is an evolutionary ecologist specializing in plant-microbe interactions. She completed her BA at Carleton College and her PhD in plant biology at the University of Minnesota, where she researched the evolutionary stability of legume-rhizobia symbiosis. During her postdoctoral fellowship in NIH’s Molecular Mycology and Pathogenesis Training Program at Duke University and NC State University, she examined foliar fungal endophytes and their interactions with pine hosts in the southeastern U.S. Her research aims to understand how symbiotic associations evolve, employing both genetic tools and experimental methods to study key systems like legume-rhizobia symbioses and foliar fungal endophytes.