Plant Biology graduate student Angelique Acevedo wins Katherine Esau Award at Botany 2026

Plant Biology graduate student Angelique Acevedo attended the Botany 2026 conference in Tucson, Arizona, where she received the Katherine Esau Award for her presentation, “Fascinating Fasciation, Whorls, and Spirals: Cellular and Molecular Basis for Phyllotactic Leaf Transitions in Monkeyflower.”

 

The Katherine Esau Award is a prestigious student award given by the Developmental and Structural Section of the Botanical Society of America (BSA). The award was established in honor of Dr. Katherine Esau, an influential plant anatomists of the 20th century. Adding a special connection to this recognition, Angelique’s thesis advisor, Dr. Ya Min, was also a recipient of the Katherine Esau Award in 2018. 

 

Angelique’s research uses a newly established transgenic line, SPIRAL, together with transgenic manipulation, quantitative live confocal imaging, and transcriptomic sequencing to uncover the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying phyllotactic transitions in plants.

 

This latest honor adds to a growing list of recognitions for Angelique’s research. Her work has also received a BSA Student Research Award and a ROOT & SHOOT Travel Award, which supported her attendance at Botany 2026 to present her research.