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Research Interests:

 

I am a PhD Candidate in Plant Breeding and Genetics, and a NSF GRFP fellow (DGE – 2139899). My research interests focus on how we can leverage evolution and natural systems to develop crops that require fewer nutrient inputs and are more climate resilient while maintaining yield. My dissertation research includes maize intraspecific competition dynamics, a machine learning pipeline to evaluate gene model annotations, and the genetics underlying perenniality using several hundred Andropogoneae species. 
 
During my undergraduate work, I studied inbreeding depression in wild teosinte populations and root architecture across the genus Zea.

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Education:

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•  B.S. in Genetics and B.S. in Agronomy at Iowa State University

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Curriculum Development:

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Alongside Merritt Khaipho-Burch, we have developed a curriculum on seed dispersal and adaptation that can be taught to a wide age range of students. You can see all materials here: maizegenetics.net/game

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Watch the video below that describes my work with phenotyping robots for my competition experiments:

 

 

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