Rising population size, changes in land-use, introduction of novel and invasive pests and diseases, and global changes in climate and atmospheric composition pose significant challenges to maintaining and improving future agricultural production and global food supply. Two global changes that directly affect crop productivity are rising carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) and rising tropospheric ozone concentration ([O3]). While elevated [CO2] stimulates photosynthesis and productivity of C3 crops, rising tropospheric [O3] negatively impacts photosynthesis and subsequent growth and production. The focus of my research is to understand and integrate the molecular, biochemical and physiological responses of plants to global change. This fundamental understanding is critical for identifying targets for breeding and biotechnology that may be exploited to maximize crop yields and plant productivity in the coming decades. As the population grows and the climate becomes more variable over this century, addressing these research challenges will be ever more important. Research in my lab seeks to understand and address crop responses to global climate change by using meta-analyses and time-space modeling to quantify the responses of plants to climate change factors, developing high-throughput tools for investigating molecular and biochemical responses of plants to climate change, and identifying intraspecific variation in the response of species to climate change.
