Cynthia (Cindy) Amstutz was a graduate student in the lab of Kris Niyogi at the University of California, Berkeley. She investigated photoprotection in plants, specifically the molecular components and mechanisms involved in qH, a sustained form of energy dissipation. Cynthia earned her bachelor's degree in plant biology as well as molecular genetics and genomics from Michigan State University and a doctorate in plant biology at Berkeley. Her work has been published in The Plant Journal.