Overview
As a physiological ecologist, my primary interests are to understand how environmental stresses on leaf gas exchange and plant carbon allocation control carbon gain, plant growth and reproduction. My research focuses on environmental factors likely to be affected by global change, particularly direct effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) and tropospheric ozone (O3) on physiology, and indirect effects on species interactions and distribution. My current research addresses two topics: i) the effects of environmental stress, including elevated CO2, on stomatal function, plant growth, and carbon allocation, and ii) controls on establishment of an invading species.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Assistant Professor of the Practice Emerita in the Division of Environmental Natural Sciences
·
2025 - Present
Environmental Natural Science,
Nicholas School of the Environment
Recent Scholarly Works
Despite rapid warming, seed production is not leading poleward migration in North American and European forests.
Journal article The New phytologist · July 2026 To survive climate change, forest trees will have to shift seed production poleward. However, warming will not stimulate tree fecundity in the north if it is limited by other habitat variables. We evaluated the responses of tree fecundity to climate change ... Full text CiteFecundity and terrain-climate interactions that shape tree niche differences across North America and Europe
Journal article Journal of Ecology · June 1, 2026 If niche differences contribute to biodiversity, then landscapes must vary and species must respond differently to that variation. Terrain, through its effects on solar radiation and moisture, is an important contributor to habitat variation, but its effec ... Full text CiteContinental Contrasts in Climate Extremes That Control Tree Fecundity.
Journal article Global change biology · February 2026 In 2023, more than half of olive harvests (Olea europaea) across Spain, Greece, and Türkiye were lost to drought. The same year late freeze destroyed 90% of the peach crop (Prunus persica) on the Georgia Piedmont and the apple crop (Malus domestica) in cen ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Identifying Barriers to Sustainable Food Production by Low Resource Producers and Purchase by Low Income Consumers in Washington and Hyde Counties, North Carolina
FellowshipPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Georgia · 2013 - 2014Radionuclide Imaging Technologies for Biological Systems
ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Energy · 2010 - 2014View All Grants
Education
Duke University ·
1990
Ph.D.
San Diego State University ·
1985
M.S.
McGill University (Canada) ·
1981
B.S.