History

History

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants utilize solar energy to convert CO₂ and H₂O into carbohydrates, with the release of O₂. Through this process, plants are the ultimate source of all of our food and all fossil fuels, and have the potential to play a critical role in producing renewable energy resources and mitigating climate change. My group is focusing on developing next generation computational models and algorithms to identify new approaches to adapt photosynthesis to meet societal needs, and to improve photosynthesis beyond the accomplishments of evolution. Specifically, we are working on two projects, representing two different approaches with the shared goal of engineering higher photosynthetic energy conversion efficiency; firstly, optimizing existing C3 photosynthetic systems (the ePlant project), and secondly, engineering a C4 photosynthetic pathway into C3 crops (the C4 rice project).