Michael Schläppi

Michael Schläppi is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Marquette University. His research focuses on molecular and genetic mechanisms of cold stress tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.), utilizing QTL mapping, gene co-expression analysis, and CRISPR/Cas9 technology. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in genetics, plant biology, and epigenetics.

• Education: Diploma (1986) and Ph.D. (1990) from the University of Basel, Switzerland; Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Institute of Washington.

Research Interests include exploring natural genetic variation in rice to identify genes responsible for cold tolerance, with aims to introgress these traits into elite rice lines and test them in Wisconsin's cold climate. His work bridges basic molecular biology with agricultural applications.

Grants received include two NIFA-AFRI awards from the USDA (2016-2021) and a Marquette University Strategic Innovation Fund grant (2017-2019). He has mentored numerous Ph.D. and M.S. students, including Huy Phan (current) and alumni such as Nasim Maghboli Balasjin (2023) and Naoki Shimoyama (2022).

Teaching involves courses like Genetics (BIOL 3201), Plant Biology (BIOL 4406), and Epigenetics (BIOL 8201). His lab collaborates on field-testing cold-tolerant rice varieties at redstonerice.com.