About me

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University studying abscisic acid dynamics, drought stress, and stomatal evolution.

I did my PhD work at Purdue University in the department of Botany and Plant Pathology graduating in December 2023 working for Dr. Scott McAdam. I am a plant physiologist and Indiana native who specializes in plant hydraulics, tree phenology, and plant hormone biology working to understand the many ways plants and plant communities will change as the climate warms. I have primarily worked on deciduous trees investigating all aspects of the leaf lifespan. Including:

  • How the change in cuticle and stomatal development influence water loss in newly emerging leaves.

  • The hormonal regulation of stomatal control in anisohydric trees during drought

  • The role abscisic acid plays in autumnal leaf senescence, abscission, and leaf death

  • Leaf freezing survival

  • The effect of warming on bud burst, leaf senescence, and deciduous tree phenology

During the final year of my PhD I was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue and impendent research project on effects of climate change on leaf phenology at University of Tasmania with Dr. Tim Brodribb.

In addition to my research I have a passion for teaching and outreach having taught seven classes where I had varying duties including teaching lectures, running labs, and building online resources for students.

I have also presented at a number of national and international conferences where I presented posters and talks about my novel research.

Check out my C.V.

Most recent publication:

ā€œSpatial and Temporal Freezing Dynamics of Leaves Revealed by Time-Lapse Imagingā€ Plant, Cell, & Environment (2024)

What Iā€™m reading:

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (1949)