Population genetics of species whose ranges are fragmented. Environmental projects of the student's own design. These could be done as Bio 391 or Env 391. Students are currently working on estimating algal diversity and biomass from streams currently impacted by sewage treatment plant effluents and analysing water quality from 12 Appalachian rivers. The emphasis of research in my laboratory is the understanding of the role of the hormone, auxin, in plant growth, development, and response to the environment.
Auxins reach plant tissues by a unique cell to cell polar transport system.
Auxin transport is carefully modulated to allow growth, development, and responses to light and gravity to be precisely controlled. The biochemical mechanisms of auxin transport and the role of transport in plant growth are the focus of research in the laboratory. We are specifically interested in a protein which regulates the efflux of auxin from cells. This regulatory protein is associated with the auxin efflux carrier and is believed to be localized to the base of plant cells and to thereby drive the polarity of auxin transport. Recent evidence suggests that this regulatory protein is associated with the actin cytoskeleton.