Laura Sheard and Kristopher Martin had dated for at least two years. He played in a band and was a video artist. She was a graduate student who wanted to help solve world hunger.

On Sunday, they died together in a fiery automobile crash on Lake City Way Northeast.

Sheard, 26, a graduate student in pharmacology at the University of Washington, and Martin, 33, were identified Monday as the victims of an accident near Northeast 110th Street in Seattle.

Police said the couple were stopped at a red light in a 2007 Hyundai sedan when they were struck from behind by a 2005 Ford Explorer driven by a 43-year-old man. The cars traveled about 100 yards before the Hyundai burst into flames.

Sheard and Martin died at the scene.

The 43-year-old man and two girls — ages 10 and 11 — who were in the back seat of the SUV, were taken to Harborview Medical Center with nonlife-threatening injuries, police said.

Police on Monday had no new information to share about the crash because accident investigations can take months, spokesman Detective Jeff Kappel said.

Sheard, from Pennsylvania, was in her fifth year of study at the UW's pharmacology program, said her faculty adviser, Dr. Ning Zheng, an associate professor.

"She was an extremely talented student ... almost ready to get her Ph.D.," Zheng said. "We're all really, really deeply in sorrow."

Sheard showed great promise and already had been lead author for a research paper in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, Zheng said. Her research focused on plant hormones.

She also received a fellowship in August from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and that funded her postgraduate work.

"She was hoping to put her research to ways to help feed the world," said Diane Schulstad, human-resources manager for the UW pharmacology department. Sheard stood out for her vibrant personality. She loved dancing and made cupcakes with beautiful designs on them, Schulstad said.

Martin, originally from Wisconsin, was a video production specialist at OnlineShoes, a Seattle firm where he had worked for four years. He played in a local band called Touch My Hand for Tenderness and posted blog items on the band's website about performances in Seattle.

"I knew that she was deeply in love with Kris," Schulstad said of Sheard. "He was just the right guy for her."

Candace Adamo, a good friend of Sheard's who graduated with a doctorate earlier this year and now lives in Atlanta, said the couple lived about half a mile from each other and were part of a small group of friends who rented ski cabins, went to happy hours and listened to Martin's band.

"They were so close and always together," Adamo said. "They seemed like they were one of those couples who would be together forever."

Seattle Times' news researchers Miyoko Wolf and David Turim contributed to this article. Jeff Hodson: 206-464-2109 or jhodson@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @NightGuy3.