Simon recently spent a year on sabbatical at the Kennedy Space Center. and regularly designs spaceflight experiments with NASA and loves sharing his passion for science with the general public with organizations including local National Public Radio (NPR), National Geographic, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC)  and was recently interviewed for Japanese television. 

Research Scientist: Sarah is awesome on every microscope (Electron, Confocal, Epifluorescence and even Fold Scope), keeps everything in the lab working to schedule and enjoys playing the flute in her spare time. She is the veteran of multiple spaceflight experiments including TOAST,  APEX05 and APEX10, TICTOC and SPECTRUM. She is currently planning a future mission code named BLASTOFF,.

She is the Director of the Newcomb Imaging Center at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. 

Researchj Scientist: This MMA warrior is not afraid of anything! He loves demonstrating his bravery when samples return from the International Space Station. Arko's PhD was focused on the molecular response of Arabidopsis thaliana to ethylene signaling. When Arko is not in the laboratory or dojo he can often be found on the stage performing in traditional Indian music and dance shows, or acting in plays.  Arko starts as an Assistant Professor at Wake Forest in January 2026!

Ph.D. student: Yishai completed his Masters in the lab of Anne Pringle in the Department of Bacterial & Microbial Sciences here at UW-Madison studying mycorrhizal colonization of burr oak in urban and rural settings. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. in the Gilroy Lab, asking how volatile emissions from the fungus Trichoderma harzianum might act to stimulate plant growth and trigger bio-protective effects.

Postdoc: Austin just joined the lab after completing his Ph.D. with Mehdi Kabbage in the Plant Pathology department here at UW-Madison. There he studied how membrane-tethered transcription factors regulate plant programmed cell death. He is now working with Nate on understanding how plant gravirtopic growth is controlled and on how plant root can cope with growiung in compacted soil such as found in lunar regolith.