Climate change is an ever-growing threat to agricultural production, as rising temperatures and drought conditions are predicted to lead to a decrease in crop growth and fruit yields (IPCC, 2022). To contend with these predictions, our research aims to understand the physiological mechanisms involved in crop growth and development under harsh conditions. For example, why is it that some varieties of strawberries grow more favorable fruits than other varieties grown within the same plot site? What morphological and physiological traits contribute to more drought-resistant plants with higher and more marketable fruit yields?

Climate change is an ever-growing threat to agricultural production, as rising temperatures and drought conditions are predicted to lead to a decrease in crop growth and fruit yields (IPCC, 2022). To contend with these predictions, our research aims to understand the physiological mechanisms involved in crop growth and development under harsh conditions. For example, why is it that some varieties of strawberries grow more favorable fruits than other varieties grown within the same plot site? What morphological and physiological traits contribute to more drought-resistant plants with higher and more marketable fruit yields?

Climate change is an ever-growing threat to agricultural production, as rising temperatures and drought conditions are predicted to lead to a decrease in crop growth and fruit yields (IPCC, 2022). To contend with these predictions, our research aims to understand the physiological mechanisms involved in crop growth and development under harsh conditions. For example, why is it that some varieties of strawberries grow more favorable fruits than other varieties grown within the same plot site? What morphological and physiological traits contribute to more drought-resistant plants with higher and more marketable fruit yields?

Plant species do not grow in a vacuum, but rather have co-evolved within a community of plant and herbivore species. How plants respond to stimuli depends largely on those community interactions in addition to species-specific traits. Furthermore, many parts of the world are experiencing increased drought and fire severity from a changing climate, and the community composition and species adaptations can play key roles in successful resilience to shifting habitat conditions. Our lab seeks to uncover how the interplay of ecophysiology and community dynamics converge to shape plant functional responses to their surroundings, particularly on the interaction of drought stress physiology and fire severity on species recovery to disturbance. We also seek to understand how microclimate interactions, such as temperature and relative humidity, shape functional trait development for recovering plant species following large-scale ecological disturbances.