Citrus Research Board Hires Dr. Melinda Klein as Chief Research Scientist

Taylor Hillman Industry News Release

Dr. Melinda Klein
The Citrus Research Board (CRB) is proud to announce the hiring of Dr. Melinda Klein as Chief Research Scientist. Dr. Klein will be joining the organization on May 1, 2016.

As Chief Research Scientist, she will be responsible for various duties including performing scientific project reviews, tracking research progress, prioritizing projects and providing leadership to assist CRB to move into the future.
Dr. Klein will be joining the organization with a tremendous amount of knowledge, education, and experience. Previously, she served as the Director of Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition at Stoller Enterprise in Houston, Texas. There, she focused on alleviating saline stress and improving crop nutrient use efficiency. Prior to Stoller Enterprise, she worked with Dr. Elsbeth Walker at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, studying iron transport in maize using classical breeding and molecular biology techniques.

She also worked with Dr. Mike Grusak, Baylor College of Medicine and the USDA-ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston, studying iron transport in legumes. After earning her BS from UC Davis majoring in Plant Sciences, she obtained her PhD in Plant Physiology at Cornell University studying zinc transport processes under the advisement of Dr. Leon Kochian. As she possess substantial experience and a wealth of knowledge in lab/greenhouse/field-based projects on maize, soybean, grapes and citrus, Dr. Melinda Klein will be an asset to the CRB.

A native of Southern California, Dr. Klein states, “I am very much looking forward to returning to California and working with the citrus industry.”

Dr. Klein will be serving as Chief Research Scientist at the CRB office in Visalia, CA.