Kwangryul Baek is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois. His research focuses on the development of genetic tools for metabolic engineering, photosynthesis and carbon-concentrating mechanisms, and the commercial applications of microalgae. For the RIPE project, he will be focusing on photorespiratory bypass. Kwangryul earned his bachelor's degree in life sciences from the Colleges of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, and his master's in life sciences from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). He went on to earn his doctorate in life sciences from the Colleges of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University. His work is published in multiple journals, including Biotechnology and Bioengineering and the Journal of Experimental Botany.