Featured Researchers
Dr. J.C. Jang
Did this year's drought destroy your crops? Dr. J.C. Jang is working on that. The Jang lab has identified a unique protein that, when overexpressed, causes plants to be extremely resilient to stress such as cold and drought. Ongoing research is looking into the molecular, cellular, and biochemical mechanisms through which the protein is able to express such a strong phenotypic response in the plant.
Collaborations with fellow HCS faculty are using these discoveries to development crop varieties that will be more tolerant to stress in the field. This can benefit agriculture and our food supply.
Dr. Hannah Mathers- Greening the Highways
Dr. Mathers is taking science to the streets. In a first-of-its-kind study, the Mathers Lab is researching not onlyhow to plant more trees in underutilized urban areas, but how to get them to SURVIVE there. The US has an estimated 60 million acres in unused land in the centers and burms of highway systems. Dr. Mathers aims to make use of this space with trees to increase carbon sequestration, dampen noise, absorb chemicals, lessen runoff and overall provide valuable environmental services.