• B.S., Biology and Mathematics, Grand Canyon University, 1988
• Ph.D., Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, 2001 

• Plant Physiology (Biol 333/533) 
• Organismal Form and Function (Biol 211)
• Plants and Society (Biol 195)
• Plant Form and Function (Biol 316)

I am interested in how plants adjust physiologically and adapt genetically to changing environmental conditions such as resource availability, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, and temperature. These adjustments have implications for our predictions and thus modeling of plant response to these projected global changes. Mechanisms underlying observed physiological and growth responses to global change elements may involve aspects of biochemistry (metabolism, nutrition, genetics), whole plant carbon and N allocational patterns, and may be modulated by interactions among biotic (plants, insects, symbioses with bacteria and/or mycorrhizae) and other abiotic (water or nutrient availability) factors. Specifically, my current interests include:

• What are the interactive effects of rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and increasing nitrogen deposition on grassland species (with an emphasis on the nitrogen fixing legume species)?

• How does regional differentiation (genotypic adaptation) vs. physiological acclimation affect the temperature response of leaf dark respiration and photosynthesis in deciduous trees?