I'm anticipating graduating Summer 2026
Research Focus:
My research focuses on questions looking at life-history strategies, phenology and germination niche. I am particularly interested in integrating process-based models to quantify germination behavior and dormancy patterns. As a PhD student at The Ohio State University, I am working with Dr. Kristin Mercer understanding the variation and evolution of the capacity of Maize to fix nitrogen through symbiosis with bacteria. For my PhD, I will also explore the evolution of seed dormancy in diverse array of wild, landrace and improved maize accessions. In particular, I will relate environmental cues to seasonal timing, dormancy patterns and fitness of Maize across diverse array of wild, landrace and improved accessions.
Why OSU?
It seems to me that the PhD program is an excellent fit for me according to the commitment to superiority in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. Research tools available at the Ohio State University, including ecology, evolution, systematics, genetics, and mathematical models that are of paramount significance to me, are extremely impressive and would help me examine more analysis techniques.
