Ornamental and Landscape Ecology

Consumer and market research, marketing and business management.

• Water and nutrient management of shade trees and conifers in Pot-in-Pot production

• Production of ash replacement species

• Promotion of increased tree species diveristy in urban and community forests

• Movement and distribution of trunk-injected systemic insecticides for EAB

• Ornamental conifers

Water management and quality for nursery production including source water quality, irrigation management and runoff water quality and management.

North Central Development Committee 216, Founding member 2008, Chair, 2008 – present: Co-developer of multi-state project Water Management and Quality for Ornamental Crop Production and Health. I initiated this project with Dr. John Lea-Cox of the University of Maryland in Feb. 2008 with the intent of focusing on water management and quality concerns at a national level related to the ornamental industry. The purpose is to foster multi-institution and multi-disciplinary research and outreach in this focus area. Currently the development committee consists of members from all 4 national regions including members from all ten of the top ten nursery production states.

Tree Fruit Horticulture & Physiology

A primary focus is on cultural (orchard development) and physiological (reproductive and environmental stress) factors important to efficient production of high-value tree fruits. My laboratory has tended to take a diverse and integrative research approach through studies of meristem determination and growth regulation, carbon and nitrogen assimilation and partitioning, rootstock evaluation, and environmental limitations to refine orchard systems and management, primarily in stone fruits.

Green Roofs

Environmental Stress Tolerance

Being sessile organisms, plants are often subjected to suboptimal or supraoptimal environmental conditions, including temperature, light intensity and water availability. My lab is interested in developing plants with increased tolerance to environmental stresses, particularly temperature stress. This includes using model systems to understand the mechanisms plants use to tolerate stressful environments, and applying this knowledge for the improvement of horticultural crops.

Increasing Efficiency of Greenhouse Crop Production

Greenhouse growers produce literally hundreds of different crops simultaneously. These crops typically need to be scheduled to flower within a narrow time window for holiday or spring sales. I am interested in understanding how light and temperature impact crop growth and development and how manipulation of these environmental variables can be used to increase precision of crop scheduling and maximize crop production efficiency.