My research interests broadly center around understanding the impacts of the abiotic and biotic environment on plant function, growth/yield, physiology and reproduction. More specifically, in the Juenger lab my research focuses on how abiotic stress affects various fitness components of naturally occurring genetic variants of plants, while subjected to typical biotic challenges such as competition, herbivory and pathogen infection. I carry out my research in a several plant systems including the candidate bioenergy crop Panicum virgatum (Swichgrass) and its closely related genetic model P. hallii, as well as the model species Arabidopsis thaliana.

After finishing my PhD, I spent a year working at University of Toronto to develop and teach undergraduate lab courses. Currently, as a Research Educator at University of Texas, I am the primary instructor of a research-based course called Biology of Biofuels that is part of the Freshmen Research Initiative, where I train students broadly in plant biological research, and supervise/manage the independent projects they eventually carry out.