Joanna Bajsa-Hirschel was a postdoctoral associate at Louisiana State University. For the RIPE project, Joanna’s work focused on identifying and characterizing new elements related to algal carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCM) to help improve how plants photosynthesize. Joanna received her master's degree in biotechnology and doctorate in biochemistry from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland. Prior to her position at LSU, Joanna was a molecular biologist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) where she studied higher plants' response to herbicides and natural compounds treatment.