Richalynn Leong

Ph.D. graduate in Biological Sciences with a specialization in plant biology. More than seven years of experience in laboratory, analytical and writing work in the plant biology field. I want to progress my career in the direction of science communication, and I am seeking the role of editor where I can hone my reading and writing skills and acquire new ones to achieve that goal.

• Spent 6 years in Temasek Lifesciences Laboratory where I was a Junior Research Fellow (PhD training) for 4 years and Assistant Research Officer (ARO) for 2 years.
• During my PhD training, I conducted experiments, genetic manipulations and big data analytical work to investigate plant stress responses. I have experience in molecular biology, transcriptomics analysis and biochemistry.
• While I was an ARO, I concurrently did part-time masters in NTU where I conducted plant physiological experiments to understand plant salt stress responses.
• Prior to my post-graduate studies, I spent around 9 months in National Institute of Education plant science laboratory working on a collaboration project with Nparks. I carried out experiments on plants, wrote reports and prepared communication slides for discussions with the collaborators.
• I spent 3 years at PSB Academy Pte Ltd as a senior laboratory technologist. I planned out experiments, set up the laboratory, and conducted undergraduate laboratory sessions for the University of Western Australia. 

PhD (Aug 2018 – Jan 2023)

Temasek Life science Laboratories (TLL), NUS

• Thesis: Signaling and transcriptional responses to calcium deficiency in Marchantia polymorpha
• Trained in data analytics techniques like 
  • Clustering analyses (PCA, heatmap)
  • Co-expression network analyses (WGCNA)
  • Pathway identification (Gene ontology analysis, phylogenetic analyses, database usage (KEGG, Pfam, Redoxibase, iTAK etc))
• Carried out calcium deficiency assays in various plant species (M. polymorpha, Arabidopsis, lettuce, Bok choy, rice, and algae) 
• Elucidating G protein signaling in calcium deficiency responses using the approach of RNA sequencing of a G protein mutant in M. polymorpha and Arabidopsis and subsequent pharmacological and physiological validations
• Identifying important transcription factors via time-series transcriptomic analysis and producing genetic knockouts of transcription factors for validation
• Development of Marchantia polymorpha plant phenotyping system using RGB imaging and analysis
• Delivered multiple presentations for institutional seminars and conference.
• Supervised polytechnic students and undergraduates in their projects.