嘿嘿视频

Sharon Gray鈥檚 Mentorship Lives On

Fund Aims to Foster Exchange With Country Where the Postdoc Lost Her Life

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Photo: Smiling Sharon Gray in lab.
Plant biologist Sharon Gray in the lab: Serious scientist with an ‘Infectious smile and giggle.’

Updated Nov. 17 with the announcement of a new 嘿嘿视频 giving fund for the Sharon Gray Memorial Award. See box below.


 Sharon Gray profile.
Gray in a Costa Rican cloud forest, photographed by her husband, on their honeymoon.

Sharon Gray鈥檚 work in Ethiopia is not done.

The 30-year-old 嘿嘿视频 postdoc had gone to the African nation to discuss the start of a plant biology research project. She and others 鈥 including Associate Professor Siobhan Brady 鈥 were in a car, driving on the outskirts of the capital city, Addis Ababa, on Oct. 4, when a rock came crashing through a window, striking and killing Gray. Brady was not injured.

The Netherlands Institute of Ecology, which also is involved in the research project, said Gray鈥檚 death was not a direct consequence of the large-scale protests that are impacting Ethiopia, but, rather, the result of a random act of a few young individuals throwing stones at passing vehicles.

Before the tragedy, something wonderful had happened. According to her husband, R.J. Cody Markelz, also a 嘿嘿视频 postdoc in plant biology, Gray had met a young Ethiopian scientist who, in her lab, had access to a wide range of molecular equipment and tools, but needed training in how to use them. 鈥淪haron really wanted to bring her to 嘿嘿视频 for training and was so motivated to remove this barrier to learning when the resources were already in place,鈥 Markelz said.

Sharon Gray Memorial Award

At the family鈥檚 request, 嘿嘿视频 has established the to support graduate students in the College of Biological Sciences. Read how this fund fits in with other efforts to carry on Gray鈥檚 legacy.

Now, to preserve her legacy of mentorship, and hopefully bring this scientist to the United States, . 鈥淭he mission of this current campaign is to make something positive out of this tragedy,鈥 Markelz wrote for the GoFundMe site.

He said the family is discussing the exchange proposal with multiple institutions, including 嘿嘿视频 and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Gray did her undergraduate work and received her Ph.D. Meanwhile, as of around 12:45 p.m. today (Oct. 11), the GoFundMe drive had raised more than $63,000 toward its $200,000 goal. Update Nov. 16: The GoFundMe account has surpassed $108,000.

鈥楢mazing鈥 balancing act

Overseas and at home, Gray had never let her graduate studies or postdoctoral fellowship get in the way of her mentoring. 鈥淲e all only have 24 hours in the day and mentoring can take away from research commitments,鈥 Markelz told Dateline UC Davis. 鈥淪haron always did an amazing job at balancing research with mentoring and all of the other responsibilities that come with being a Ph.D. student and postdoc.鈥

She mentored undergraduates at Urbana-Champaign and 嘿嘿视频, and high school students, too, from Davis High and Pioneer High in Woodland.

 Sharon Gray and An Nguyen
Gray and An Nguyen at 2016 嘿嘿视频 Undergraduate Research Symposium.

嘿嘿视频 alumna An Nguyen had Gray as a mentor for two years before graduating recently with a degree in biotechnology. 鈥淭he last year that I worked with her, she helped me finish a senior thesis,鈥 Nguyen said. 鈥淪he was always generous with her time and very supportive.

鈥淥ften, she would make time to get to know me better as a person, not just as a student. When we would work late to finish up our experiments, she would boil a cup of hot water to share tea with me.鈥

At times when Nguyen doubted whether she had chosen the right career track for her, 鈥淪haron always offered words of reassurance and reminded me that being a woman in STEM is very important,鈥 Nguyen said. 鈥淲e both shared this ideal from the beginning, but with heavy amounts of schoolwork and projects, it is easy to forget.

鈥淪haron meant a lot to me and was a big part in the success of my undergraduate career,鈥 said Nguyen, who is now working in the biotech industry. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have done it without her support. Even now, I aspire to be able to give the same valuable mentorship to someone else as she had done for me.鈥

鈥淚 hope others will remember her as I do, as a loving, caring and supportive woman who was passionate in the field of science.鈥

'A true expert in her field'

 Sharon Gray with shovel, in field.
Gray digs into her research, studying plants' responses toclimate change.

Associate Professor Brady said Gray dedicated her research to understanding plants鈥 responses to climate change. Her graduate work focused on the response of soybean plants to high carbon dioxide in the presence of drought and showed that plants did not respond as the scientific community had anticipated.

鈥淧revious research had suggested that plants would have a higher yield in high carbon dioxide,鈥 Brady said in a statement. 鈥淚n the presence of drought, however, these increases were not observed. This work showed that more research is needed to face our agricultural challenges in the future of climate change.鈥

Gray had just completed her NSF-funded postdoc project characterizing the responses of a drought-tolerant wild species of tomato and a drought-sensitive domesticated species of tomato. 鈥淚 anticipate that once published, these results will also provide important perspective needed when breeding plants in environments that are changing,鈥 Brady said.

鈥淪haron was a true expert in her field of root development and plant physiology. She had a very bright future ahead of her and I was sure she was to be a leader in plant biology and a wonderful mentor.鈥

Savithramma Dinesh-Kumar, professor and chair of the Department of Plant Biology, told the Los Angeles Times: 鈥淪he鈥檚 a smart, energetic scientist. 鈥 Everyone knew she was going to be the star in the plant biology research area.鈥

Couple met as undergrads

 Cody Markelz and Sharon Gray in front of giant tree.
Cody Markelz and Sharon Gray in Yosemite's Merced Grove of Giant Sequoias. Photo by Gray's father, Thomas Gray I.

Gray attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for both her Bachelor of Science degree in integrative biology (2006) and Ph.D. in the Department of Plant Biology, writing her thesis on 鈥淚nteractive Effects of Elevated Carbon Dioxide Concentration and Water Availability on Field鈥怗rown Soybean鈥 (2013).

She and Markelz came to 嘿嘿视频 in December 2012, she for a National Science Foundation Research Fellowship in the Brady Lab and he for an NSF fellowship in Julin Maloof鈥檚 lab (with Dan Kliebenstein as co-mentor).

Markelz and Gray, both from Illinois, met as freshmen at Urbana-Champaign, in an introductory biology class. 鈥淲e were friends for many years before dating during graduate school,鈥 Markelz said. They were married Aug. 22, 2014, at Starved Rock State Park overlooking the Illinois River. She liked the outdoors, for sure, for cycling, running, backpacking and rock climbing, as well as music and cooking.

鈥淪haron was currently applying for academic faculty positions. We had planned on working together at the same academic institution.鈥 鈥 Cody Markelz

A co-author credits her mentor

Gray had a record of publications going back to 2010, the most recent of which was posted Sept. 5 on the Nature Plants website. Titled the paper reflects work she did for her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois.

Stephanie Klein was an undergraduate at Illinois when she assisted Gray on her graduate research in 2011 and 2012, and is a co-author 鈥 her first such listing 鈥 on the Nature Plants paper.

鈥淓ventually, I wrote about this data for my senior thesis and became so interested in roots that I wanted to study it for my Ph.D.,鈥 Klein told Dateline 嘿嘿视频.

鈥淪haron unquestionably made a huge impact on my personal and professional life. Without her guidance, patience, generosity and enthusiasm, I surely would not be pursuing a Ph.D. at Penn State studying roots. She played a huge role in my development as a very young scientist.鈥

鈥楢 bright human being鈥

 Sharon Gray with flower in hair.
Photographed by her husband.

Sharon Beth Gray was born Nov. 25, 1985, in Carbondale, Illinois, and grew up in Lindenhurst, Illinois, where her parents, Pamela Lynn Gray and Thomas James Gray I, still reside. She also is survived by three brothers and two sisters: Thomas James Gray II of Provo, Utah, Micah Lynn Wren-Gray of Chicago, Luke Aaron Gray of Lindenhurst, Anna Ruth Gray-Wilke of Lombard, Illinois, and Stephen Joseph Gray of Lindenhurst.

鈥淪haron was such a bright human being,鈥 her family said in a statement Oct. 6. 鈥淲e have been so lucky to have shared part of our lives with her. Sharon was a passionate scientist, friend, spouse, sister, daughter, aunt, godmother and a colleague. We are picking each other up and growing together in her absence.鈥

Her colleagues also remarked on the pleasure they derived from being around Gray. Said her department chair: 鈥淪he鈥檚 really an always-smiling slip of sunshine.鈥 Brady commented on Gray鈥檚 鈥渦ncommon kindness,鈥 鈥渋nfectious smile and giggle鈥 and 鈥渃alm and patient nature.鈥

Markelz said the family will have a memorial service for Gray, with details to be announced later.

Improving lives the world over

 Siobhan Brady and Sharon Gray, selfie.
Gray, left, and Associate Professor Brady in Ethiopia.

Campus leadership offered condolences in a message posted on the News and Information website Oct. 5. 鈥淓ven in tragedy, we hope that we all can find some comfort in the wonderful work Sharon was engaged in that will better the lives of so many around the world,鈥 wrote Ken Burtis, interim provost and executive vice chancellor, and Mark Winey, dean of the College of Biological Sciences.

Associate Professor Brady, in her Oct. 6 statement, wrote: 鈥淎s a postdoc in my lab, she was a valuable team member, mentor and friend. We were looking forward to exploring Ethiopia together and working with the bright scientists we met over the last few days.鈥

Now, if all goes according to plan, at least one of those 鈥渂right scientists鈥 will be one more beneficiary of Gray鈥檚 legacy of mentorship.

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