Growth and Defense in Sugar Maple, a Foundational Tree Species in North America
I am seeking an undergraduate research technician to assist on an NSF grant-funded project this summer. We will be exploring how light limitation impacts the capacity of sugar maple seedlings to balance the competing demands of growth and defense against herbivores. The student assistant would contribute to garden and greenhouse experiments, and also learn an array of laboratory techniques ranging from behavioral bioassays to chemical analyses.
Our work integrates field and lab work. Lab work allows us to identify patterns and underlying mechanisms in great detail and field work helps our findings to be broadly applicable to naturally occurring plant populations. Overall, our research provides insight into how global change stressors determine patterns of growth, chemistry, and resistance of plants in natural and managed systems.