Karolina Heyduk, Ph.D.
Mentor
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
The Heyduk lab studies the evolution of plant adaptations to challenging environments. Much of our work focuses on CAM photosynthesis, a modified form of photosynthesis found in many arid-adapted plants, but also in epiphytes and aquatic plants. Our goal is to understand how the traits associated with CAM have evolved, how they are regulated under variable conditions, and how they tie into the anatomy and physiology of the whole plant. We therefore use a diversity of techniques, including plant ecophysiology and genomics (including RNA-sequencing and metabolites), all in an evolutionary biology framework. New directions in the lab focus on understanding how a trait like CAM photosynthesis fares under different stressors, including increased CO2 concentrations, higher temperatures, and changes to nutrient availability.
