Ecker is one of the nation’s leading authorities on the molecular biology and genetics of plants. Ecker was a principal investigator in the multinational project that sequenced the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana, a model organism for the study of plant genetics. He is widely regarded as one of the foremost experts on how the gaseous hormone ethylene regulates a variety of basic plant processes that underline development and disease in plants and humans.

Dr. Ecker is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a 2007 recipient of the John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science. He is also a recipient of the American Society of Plant Biologists’ Martin Gibbs Medal, awarded for pioneering advances leading to new directions in the plant sciences. In 2004 he was named a Scientific American 50 Research Leader of the Year.

Title of Dr. Ecker’s talk: "Sequencing Across the Genome/Phenome Divide"