I am a Ph.D. Student in Agricultural and Environmental Plant Science (AEPS) at The Pennsylvania State University.  As a Root-Rhizosphere Fellow associated with the Center for Root-Rhizosphere Biology, I am co-advised by Dr. Carolyn Lowry at the Weed Ecology Laboratory (Plant Science Dept, College of Agriculture) and Dr. Jesse Lasky in the Evolutionary Genetics, Phyisiology, and Ecology Laboratory (Biology Dept, College of Arts and Sciences).

My work explores the roots and soil biogeochemistry of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), a plant with profound implications on ecosystem resource cycling in the Western US. The feedback loop between cheatgrass and soil nitrogen availability is a driver of invasion, so identifying plant traits that facilitate this interaction is crucial to effective management. The rhizosphere ("root-associated") space is a promising interface to explore traits associated with adaptation and control of foundational ecosystem dynamics. By studying mechanisms of invader success, I aim to inform both restoration management and bioengineering of crops.

Invasive plants are predicted to benefit from habitat changes that are likely to resolve over the next decades, even as we are challenged to stabilize agriculture to these same conditions. Nitrogen is central to overall plant capacity to benefit from otherwise theoretical gains from enriched atmospheric carbon dioxide, so many species have evolved interactions with soil microorganisms to acquire nitrogen, cultivating a region of soil proximal to the root that is hospitable to microbes with functions relating to fitness success.

Until recent advances, ecosystems beneath our feet have been opaque and nearly impossible to quantify; yet it is clear that the chemical relationship between roots and soil microbes is imperative to agricultural resilience and ecosystem stewardship. It is my goal to apply molecular and genetic technique in addition to tissue imaging to characterize belowground interactions associated with plant enhancement of microbially-mediated bioavailable nitrogen. 

I propose that future crops will need to integrate traits related to 1) enhanced resilience to abiotic stress and 2) stabilized yields. Nitrogen access has been linked causally to both outcomes in plants in multiple systems, agronomic and ecological. Current approaches to addressing this limitation are inefficient, with only ~30% of nitrogen amendments taken up by standard crops in conventional systems. Applied nitrogen is costly to the farmer, and creates transient flushes of excess nitrogen that become the primary source of leaching/eutrophication and nitrous oxide pollution. This is not a novel argument; it has been a decades-long goal of plant bioengineering to create cereal crops with the ability to independently and robustly regulate the soil microbiome such that bioavailable nitrogen is enhanced. 

Restoration practices must likewise understand the dynamics that must be remediated to achieve ecosystem stability. Soil nitrogen management is central to reduce invasive plant pressure, and these practices must adapt to different habitat conditions. My current interest is in biochar mediation of arid soils.

Accordingly, my outreach efforts support the integration of ecological and agricultural land management, with my most recent project being the 2024 restoration of the Penn State Community Garden pollinator garden in cooperation with the Master Gardeners and PSU Institute for Sustainability.  

In addition to teaching responsibilities, I enjoy guest lecturing and science communication. I develop figures for publications and presentations, practice traditional botanical illustration, plein air painting, and the depiction of science through classical, multimedia, or digital rendering.