Research topics

Plant Climate-Resilience Physiology

Climate shapes our environments and, consequently, our lives. In turn, plants adapt to climatic changes throughout their life cycles. We look to nature to understand how plants respond to atmospheric variations in their wild habitats and domesticated growing environments, drawing insights that can benefit both agriculture and horticulture. In particular, we are interested in non-model genera with high agricultural or horticultural value:

• Drought responses in Streptocarpus
• Climate adaptation in the carnivorous pitchers of Thai Nepenthes

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Agriculture

Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. As anthropogenic climate change accelerates, the agricultural sector must prepare for more extreme weather events and the resulting fluctuations or declines in productivity. We focus on food crops that supply essential calories and protein in human diets, exploring how fertilizer management may alleviate the threats climate change poses to the food system:

• Nitrogen assimilation in Oryza sativa (rice)

Ex-Situ Conservation Physiology

Living collections serve as valuable tools for research and public education. However, despite decades of botanical collection and curation, our understanding of these plants’ physiological responses remains limited due to the restricted availability and accessibility of quality specimens. Following extensive conversations with colleagues managing living collections, we have prioritized groups that are global crowd favorites, native to Thailand, or readily available in local collections. By combining fundamental physiological observations with practical horticultural solutions, we are developing guidelines to help botanists and horticulturists better care for these stars of the plant world:

• Dormancy and flowering physiology in Amorphophallus (corpse flower)
• Water relations in Welwitschia mirabilis