Lab Members

Alex Luckew (Research Scientist: 2019 – present)

Pallavi Rathore (PhD Student: 2024 to present)

Pallavi obtained her B.S. in Agriculture with a specialization in Plant Breeding and Genetics from Punjab Agricultural University (India) and M.S. in Plant Sciences with a concentration in Biotechnology from Tennessee State University where she worked on root phenotyping in Soybean and CRISPR/Cas9 vector development. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D and her current research focus is to identify sources of host resistance for anthracnose in watermelon and cucumber, aiming to enhance disease resistance and improve cultivar performance.

Sophie Ellingwood (Lab Assistant: 2026 to present)

Sophie is a lab assistant for the McGregor Lab. She graduated from UGA in May 2025 with a B.S. in Biology and Spanish. She aspires to study Mycology in grad school. She loves to travel, read, do yoga, and learn new things. She has two cats, Yuzu and Nori.

Lara Dye (Research Professional: 2024 – present)

Lara graduated from UGA with a B.S. in Biology, and then attended Athens Technical College to attain an A.S. in Dental Hygiene. She worked with plant parasitic nematodes in UGA’s Department of Plant Pathology before becoming a dental hygienist. She is excited to rejoin the world of science with the McGregor Lab and learn more about plant breeding and genetics. She loves plants and her 2 dogs, Wilson and Penny.

Samuel Manthi (PhD Student: 2019 to present)

Samuel was born and raised in Kenya. He is currently a 5th year PhD candidate working on Loci, candidate genes, and allelic variation associated with watermelon fruit shape. Before Joining UGA, he worked as a research associate at the International Crops Research for Arid and Semi-Arid Tropics (I.C.R.I.S.A.T) in Nairobi. His work involved extensive lab experiments on groundnuts, chickpea, sorghum, pigeon pea, and finger millet, focusing on DNA extraction, PCR amplification, and electrophoresis. He played a crucial role in developing and optimizing protocols for genetic diversity studies and trained visiting scientists and university students in molecular genetics techniques. He holds a M.S. in Genetics from Northeast Normal University in China. He is passionate about mentoring young scientists.