Ye (Juliet) Chu, Lab P.I.
Connect with Dr. Chu: Email | Profile | Google Scholar
Technical Support
Tracey Cook
Research Technician
Email: tcalvert@uga.edu
Prior to joining the Blueberry Breeding Program, Tracey Cook had the privilege and honor of managing the University of Georgia’s Dairy Research Center, consisting of 250 milking head of cattle.
She has enjoyed learning and accepting the responsibilities of managing field operations, green houses, nursery, and assisting with lab work. Along with those responsibilities, she also manages the inventory, vehicles, and student labor for the Blueberry Breeding Program.
Research Associates
Dongliang Wu
Research Associate
Email: dw64056@uga.edu
Dongliang Wu is a Research Associate with the University of Georgia Blueberry Breeding Program. He holds a Ph.D. in Plant Genetics and Breeding and an M.S. in Statistics, with a multidisciplinary background in molecular biology, plant breeding, genomics, and bioinformatics.
Prior to joining the program, he conducted research in peanut genetics using MAGIC populations, focusing on disease resistance mapping through integration of phenotypic data with genomic, pangenome, and long-read sequencing analyses. His work involved haplotype mapping, structural variant discovery, and development of bioinformatic pipelines for high-resolution trait dissection.
In his current role, he supports field, greenhouse, and laboratory operations, including managing blueberry breeding populations, conducting controlled crosses, and advancing selections through propagation and tissue culture. His research integrates molecular, phenotypic, and genomic approaches—combining sequencing data analysis, bioinformatics, and statistical modeling—to support the development of improved blueberry cultivars. He also collaborates with faculty and graduate students, supervises student workers, and contributes to research reports and scientific publications.
Ph.D. Students
Sindoora Nalajala
Ph.D. Student
Email: sindoora.nalajala@uga.edu
Sindoora Nalajala graduated with a M.S in Genetics and Plant Breeding from Central Agricultural University, India. She joined Dr. Chu’s lab in January 2024. She was a research fellow in Groundnut Genetics and breeding at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India prior joining Chu’s lab.
Her research mainly focuses on broadening genetic base and biotic stress resistance in Blueberries.
M.S. Students
Sangram Sandhu
M.S. Student
Email: SangramSingh.Sandhu@uga.edu
Sangram graduated with a Bachelor degree in Biotechnology from Punjab Agricultural University, India. He joined Dr. Chu’s lab in January 2026.
His research is focused on micro-propagation and fruit quality assessment of rain-split tolerant rabbiteye blueberry lines.
Alumni
Emily Walter
Emily Walter graduated with a B.S in Plant Sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
She joined Dr. Chu’s lab in August 2023 and graduated with a M.S. in Horticulture in July 2025.
Her research was focused on using tissue culture to increase the ploidy level in blueberry varieties which lead to two peer-reviewed publications
- Walter, E., P.M. Lyrene, and Y. Chu. 2025. Polyploidy induction of wild diploid blueberry V. fuscatum. Horticulturae 11:921.
- Walter, E., A. Biswal, P. Ozias-Akins, and Y. Chu. 2025. Leaf organogenesis improves recovery of solid polyploid shoots from chimeric southern highbush blueberry. BioTech 14:48.