Carolyn Young joined the Forage Improvement Division in January 2006. Carolyn received her BSc (1993), MSc (1999) and PhD in Molecular Biology (2005), from Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. She then completed a one year postdoctoral appointment at the Ohio State University in the Plant Pathology department. Carolyn has 10 years of experience with Neotyphodium species and has cloned and characterized the genes required for the biosynthesis of the indole-diterpenes paxilline and lolitrem B.

Carolyn will conduct research within the area of plant-microbe interactions, in particular with fungal endophytes of cool season grasses and with Phymatotrichopsis omnivora, a destructive plant pathogen of crops.