Giovanni Melandri

Giovanni Melandri is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, leading the Melandri Lab which focuses on identifying physiological, biochemical, and genetic mechanisms to enhance drought and heat stress tolerance in crops like sorghum, durum wheat, and cotton. His research integrates physiological phenotyping, omics analyses, predictive modeling, and genetic mapping in field trials across Arizona's desert environment.

Education includes a PhD in Plant Sciences from Wageningen University (NL), postdoctoral research at INRAE (France) and the University of Arizona, and earlier degrees from the University of Dundee (UK) and University of Bologna (Italy). Teaching responsibilities include ACBS PLS 312 Animal and Plant Genetics, alongside expertise in Biochemistry, Environmental Stress Biology, and Genomics.

Research interests emphasize leveraging genetic diversity through systems biology approaches, particularly in crops critical to arid regions. His lab's methods blend field-based experimentation with computational tools like machine learning and bioinformatics pipelines (e.g., HAMRLNC) to uncover novel stress tolerance mechanisms. Recent work highlights mRNA modifications in sorghum, microbial interactions in anaerobic digesters, and metabolic biomarkers for crop resilience.

Labs/Teams: Melandri Lab at Keating Bioresearch, University of Arizona.