Predictive Plant Biology

We seek to understand how biological systems change over time so that their future behavior can be predicted.

Biology is dynamic. All biological systems change through time. Plants continuously perceive, integrate, and respond to biological, chemical, and environmental signals across multiple levels of biological organization—from genes and metabolites to microbial communities, organisms, and ecosystems.

Our laboratory is built on the belief that the most important scientific questions are too complex to be answered by any single discipline. By working closely with collaborators in plant pathology, microbiology, computational biology, engineering, and the environmental sciences, we integrate diverse perspectives, technologies, and approaches to uncover the principles that govern biological systems through time.

By combining careful observation, rigorous experimentation, and interdisciplinary collaboration, we seek not only to explain how biological systems work, but to anticipate how they will respond to future challenges.

Whether improving biological control, developing plants as biosensors, or understanding plant–microbiome interactions, we pursue a common objective: advancing predictive plant biology to strengthen agriculture, environmental stewardship, and national security.

Prediction begins with understanding. Understanding begins with observation.

The Questions That Drive Our Research

Predictive Plant Biology

How do biological systems change through time, and can those changes be understood well enough to predict future behavior?

Biological Control and Microbial Ecology

Why does biological control succeed in some environments but not others, and how can ecological interactions among hosts, pathogens, and microbial communities be harnessed to improve reliability?

Plant Biosensing and Environmental Intelligence

How do plants perceive, integrate, and communicate biological, chemical, and environmental signals, and can those responses be translated into living biosensors?

Agricultural Biosecurity and Environmental Security

How can predictive biology strengthen agricultural resilience, environmental stewardship, and national security by anticipating biological responses before they become biological consequences?

Teaching, Mentorship & Scientific Development

Our teaching and mentoring are guided by the same enduring questions that drive our research. We believe students learn science most deeply by engaging with important questions, integrating ideas across disciplines, and developing the confidence to tackle problems that have no simple answers.

Scientific discovery is a team endeavor, but becoming a scientist is a personal journey. Together, we are committed to fostering an environment where curiosity, intellectual rigor, collaboration, kindness, and mutual respect thrive. Students are encouraged to ask ambitious questions, challenge assumptions, embrace interdisciplinary thinking, develop independence, and grow into scientists capable of leading research programs of their own.

We believe mentoring extends well beyond learning research techniques. It includes developing the ability to communicate science effectively, collaborate across disciplines, think critically, write persuasively, mentor others, and serve the broader scientific community.

Our goal is not simply to train graduate students. Our goal is to help develop the next generation of independent scientists.

Laboratory Culture

Our laboratory culture is built upon six enduring principles:

• Curiosity before certainty. 
• Scientific rigor with intellectual humility. 
• Collaboration over competition. 
• Long-term thinking over short-term success. 
• Mentorship as an investment in people. 
• Service to science, agriculture, and society.

Biology is dynamic. Every biological system changes through time.

Our challenge—and our opportunity—is to understand those changes well enough to anticipate what comes next.

That is the promise of Predictive Plant Biology.

Observe → Understand → Predict → Apply

The Person Behind the Science

Mike Boehm is a plant pathologist, educator, and scientific leader whose career has been guided by an enduring question: How can we understand biological systems well enough to predict their future behavior? That question has shaped a career spanning plant pathology, microbial ecology, biological control, plant biosensing, and agricultural biosecurity, while bridging fundamental discovery with practical solutions that strengthen agriculture, environmental stewardship, and national security.

Equally at home in the classroom and the field, Mike has championed experiential, student-centered learning for more than three decades. He teaches courses in Biosecurity & Bioterrorism, Biological Control, and Turfgrass Disease Management, helping students develop as scientists by connecting scientific discovery with leadership, ethics, and service. His commitment to teaching has been recognized with the USDA–APLU National Teaching Award, the APS Distinguished Teaching Award, and The Ohio State University Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, the university's highest faculty honor.

A U.S. Army and Navy veteran, Mike was recalled to active duty following the 2001 anthrax attacks and served as Operations Officer at the Navy's Biological Defense Research Directorate, where he helped establish the service's first real-time biowarfare detection capability. His leadership earned the Meritorious Service Medal for contributions that "directly and positively influenced the Department of Defense biological-warfare detection capability."

Beyond his research and teaching, Mike has held senior academic leadership roles at both the University of Nebraska and The Ohio State University. From 2017 to 2025, he served as Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources for the University of Nebraska System and Harlan Vice Chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, leading a $250 million research and engagement enterprise and securing more than $70 million in federal appropriations to strengthen national biosecurity infrastructure. Earlier, at The Ohio State University, he chaired the Department of Plant Pathology before serving as Vice Provost for Academic and Strategic Planning, directing the university's $550 million Discovery Themes Initiative in food security, sustainability, and human health.

Mike is a Fellow and Past President of the American Phytopathological Society and has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, more than 70 technical publications, and is an inventor on multiple U.S. and international patents related to biologically based disease-management technologies.

A first-generation college student from Ohio, Mike believes that higher education's greatest impact comes from investing in people—helping students develop the curiosity to ask important questions, the confidence to pursue difficult questions, and the independence to improve the world through science. He and his wife, Connie, have been married for 36 years and enjoy camping, gardening, disc golf, and spending time with family and friends.