Feb. 10: A Great Leap for Bioresearch Vicki Chandler is a Regents' Professor of molecular and cellular biology and director of the BIO5 Institute. Understanding plants – from their most minute cellular processes to their roles in ecosystems – is critical to sustain life on Earth. Chandler is part of the UA-based iPlant Collaborative, a project administered by BIO5 and funded through a $50 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The iPlant Collaborative brings together leading world scientists from many fields, providing a "cyberinfrastructure" for researchers tackling some of the toughest problems on the planet.