Rate My Professor Rebekah Rampey

Rebekah A. Rampey is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at Harding University, where she has served since 2005, with promotions noted in 2018 and 2021. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Rice University in 2004 in Dr. Bonnie Bartel's plant hormone genetics laboratory. Rampey's research centers on auxin, a key phytohormone influencing plant development. She investigates how Arabidopsis thaliana regulates auxin levels via synthesis, degradation, transport, conjugate formation, and hydrolysis. In ongoing collaboration with Dr. Bethany K. Zolman at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, she employs genetic screens, such as the J56 mutant defective in auxin-conjugate response, identified through next-generation sequencing. Her students contribute to projects involving mutant allele isolation, PCR segregation analysis, quantitative PCR for gene expression, and studies on auxin-gibberellin interactions in quadruple mutants exhibiting delayed germination.

Rampey has co-authored significant publications, including 'Auxin Input Pathway Disruptions Are Mitigated by Changes in Auxin Biosynthetic Gene Expression in Arabidopsis' (Plant Physiology, 2014), 'Compensatory Mutations in Predicted Metal Transporters Modulate Auxin Conjugate Responsiveness in Arabidopsis' (G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, 2013), 'Multiple Facets of Arabidopsis Seedling Development Require Indole-3-Butyric Acid-Derived Auxin' (The Plant Cell, 2011), 'An Arabidopsis Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Protein Modulates Metal Homeostasis and Auxin Conjugate Responsiveness' (Genetics, 2006), and 'A Family of Auxin-Conjugate Hydrolases That Contribute to Free Indole-3-Acetic Acid Levels during Arabidopsis Germination' (Plant Physiology, 2004). Underlined co-authors in her papers indicate Harding undergraduates. She received the Harding University Teacher Achievement Award in 2016, Harold Alexander Academic Advising Award in 2019, and George J. Schroepfer, Jr. Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis in 2005. Rampey teaches Genetics, Botany, and Molecular Genetics Laboratory, mentoring students in recombinant DNA techniques through her Advanced Genetics Lab.