Natalie Aldrich
Natalie Aldrich
Genome Science and Technology (GST)
Natalie Aldrich earned her B.S. in Biochemistry, Cellular & Molecular Biology and a minor in chemistry from the University of Tennessee, graduating with Distinction and Excellence in Research honors.
Her research in Dr. Elena Shpak’s lab on Arabidopsis ovule and meristem development contributed to a publication in The Plant Cell and earned her two consecutive Research Achievement Awards at UT’s EUReCA symposium, along with a top-placing oral presentation at UT’s College of Arts and Science Undergraduate Research Symposium.
She also conducted research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory through the U.S. Department of Energy’s SULI and ECO programs, working on genetic optimization in Populus trichocarpa systems to improve biomass and other bioenergy-relevant traits. Beyond the lab, she served as Research Editor for ‘Pursuit’, UT’s undergraduate research journal, and as Director of Professionalism for Alpha Omega Epsilon STEM sorority.
Research
Aldrich’s research interests center on how individual plant cells establish specialized identities and how those genetic regulations shape the physical properties of fiber-forming tissues. Drawing on her background in advanced microscopy, she is interested in connecting transcriptional states to cell identity and structural outcome, linking molecular decisions to the material properties that make plant fibers useful as advanced, renewable biomaterials.