Research Interests

My research focuses on the structure and function of plants, with a particular interest in how plants efficiently utilize two of the most limiting resources on Earth: water and light.  As an example, the columnar palisade mesophyll cells in leaves and the pipe-like xylem cells in stems are analogous structures, both acting as conduits through which light and water are transported. Both cell types function efficiently within a range of optimum conditions, and my research highlights the implications of dysfunction that occurs outside of those optimum conditions, and how plants have adapted to repair or prevent that loss of functionality.