About
The Challenge
Conservation efforts for California's endangered plants are fragmented and dispersed regionally.
- Plants that are hard to propagate (seedless or wet seeds) are not included in most seed banks.
- Endangered plants, including those with relatives that exhibit medicinal or important survival traits are often overlooked.
- Conservation organizations, government agencies, botanical gardens, and zoos do not have significant budgets to genetically profile their endangered plants.
- Students are looking for meaningful, hands-on projects to learn world class laboratory techniques and support genomics research.
The Work of the Green Biome Institute
- Contribute to conservation and medicinal research by producing:
- Draft sequence assemblies of:
- nuclear genomes
- chloroplast genomes
- transcriptomes
- microbiomes
- Lists of:
- genes
- possible barcode sites
- secondary metabolites
- genes
- Reports
- white papers for analysis performed on each plant
- metabolomics for medicinal properties
- Draft sequence assemblies of:
- Support the conservation of plant species by providing population genomics data and by advancing propagation, cloning, and seed banking of hard-to-store plants in collaboration with Botanical Gardens and other conservation-focused institutions.
- Through the use genomic sequencing data and metabolomics, uncover the medicinal potential of 100 endangered California plants and contribute to the discovery of new sources of important medicinal compounds by 2026.
- Make all GBI data public and freely available.
- Sponsor meaningful, equitable, and inclusive student training and mentorship in areas including Conservation Biology, Genomics, and Drug Discovery.
- Prepare a diverse student population to contribute and succeed in science careers and to become our future leaders.
The Green Biome Institute started in the Fall of 2019 and to date over 900 students from High School to College Graduate students have performed laboratory techniques to learn about the genomes of our States' rare plants. This year, we plan to train close to 300 students
Our students are the foundation of the GBI. The GBI's goals are achieved through student training. This year, we plan to train close to 300 students
GBI-sponsored reagents and plant material are used in one segment of undergraduate DNA Sequencing and PCR, and Molecular and Cell Biology classes.
Additionally, the GBI supports the Summer high school biotech program and numerous biology graduate students every year.
Student Training Progress - Hitting our Stride
| Year | Graduate | Undergraduate | High School |
| 2023 | 6 | 237 | 12 |
| 2022 | 7 | 261 | 14 |
| 2021 | 8 | 240 | 7 |
| 2020 | 5 | 57 | 2 |
| 2019 | 4 | 54 | 7 |
Chris Baysdorfer
Professor of Biological Sciences
Director, Green Biome Institute
chris.baysdorfer@csueastbay.edu
Ana Almeida
Department Chair of Biological Sciences
ana.almeida@csueastbay.edu
Brian Perry
Professor of Biological Sciences
brian.perry@csueastbay.edu
Joanna Garaventa
Staff Scientist
Weilun Tan
Lab Manager
weilun.tan@csueastbay.edu
A solid team from Industry, Government, & Academia
Janine Corcoran - Director of Development, CSUEB
Flint Mitchell - Principal, Mitchell Engineering Services, Plant Bioinformatics
Christine Scoobee - Field Botanist and Photographer
Kevin Corcoran* - Past VP Agilent Technologies
John Preece - Past Head of the National Clonal Germplasm Repository at UC Davis, Riverside, and, Peltier, CA.
Lee Kozar* - Director Computational Services and BioInformatics Facility, Stanford University
Randy Davis* - Board of Directors 4M Genomics
*Alumni or Past Professors of CSUEB
The Green Biome Institute is housed in the BioCore on the Campus of California State University East Bay in the foothills of Hayward,California. The GBI is looking forward to expanding into Cal State East Bay's new Applied Sciences Center with construction complete in 2025.
CSUEB has one of the nation's most diverse student populations and the School of Science has over 3,000 undergraduate and Graduate students in a variety of disciplines including; mathematics, physics, biology, biochemistry, statistics, computer science, kinesiology, and nursing. The BioCore includes all equipment necessary for leading edge genomics research including;
• Illumina Sequencing Instruments
• Ion Torrent Sequencing Instruments
• Long read Oxford Nanopore Sequencing Instruments
• A broad spectrum of Sample Preparation Instruments
• -80 deg C freezers for long term germplasm storage
• Industrial Plant Growth Chambers and Incubators
• Confocal Microscopy Room
• Access to custom AWS genomics analysis tools
• A newly refurbished 900 square foot rooftop greenhouse
The Green Biome Institute is part of the College of Science at Cal State University East Bay and is a 501(c)3 institution. Any donation to the GBI is tax deductible to extent allowable under the law. The University's 501(c)3 authorization is shown below.