Matthew Brockley

I am a chemical biologist who seeks to discover and engineer novel biochemical strategies for dealing with abiotic stress. I earned by B.A. in biochemistry and mathematics from Middlebury College where I studied microbial secondary metabolism associated with survival in metal-polluted aquatic ecosystems under the guidance of Dr. Lesley-Ann Giddings. I completed my capstone work with Dr. Robert Cluss where I further developed my passion for enzymology while studying a reversible phosphofructokinase that facilitates the enzootic lifestyle of the Lyme Disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdoferi. I also trained extensively in structural biology to interrogate the function of quorum sensing associated signaling pathways and transcription factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio vulnificus in the lab of Dr. Jon Paczkowski at the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health.

As a Ph.D. student in the Sattely Lab, I work to elucidate the biochemical strategies that enable plants across phylogeny to effectively manage nitrogen resources. With newfound knowledge of these specialized areas of plant metabolism, I aim to leverage advances in plant synthetic biology to confer advantageous traits to agriculturally relevant species to enhance to plant fitness beyond what is achievable by traditional breeding methods. I hope that with bioengineered plants we can begin to equitably address and ameliorate the harmful impacts of industrial-scale agriculture on both human and planetary health.

February 2025