Links between traits and fitness
I develop demographic models that allow us to understand how the environment influences population change over time.
In the next phase of this research, I will consider how plant traits interact with environmental properties to influence fitness.I developI
Plasticity and intraspecific variation
I'm interested in the mechanisms that constrain or enhance trait variation within species.
I was recently a guest editor on a special issue for Annals of Botany, which explored the eoclogical and evolutionary causes and consequences of this variation.
economics and ecology: optimality theory
Currently, I apply principles of microeconomics to understand how plants balance nutrients and water used during photosynthesis.
Despite being one of Earth's key physiological processes, we still know very little about how soil influences photosynthesis.