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Assistant Professor of Plant Ecophysiology

Dr. Hammond is a plant ecophysiologist and global change ecologist. Broadly, he is interested in how plant vascular systems react to extreme environmental conditions—especially regarding their function, dysfunction, and the limits of survival. Visit the research and publications pages for more information about current research projects and published work.

Education:

BS in Biology, University of Central Oklahoma

PhD in Plant Biology, Oklahoma State University

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Biological Scientist III

Gerard's goal is to understand why do plants die under drought stress and find the key physiological factors that can predict when plants will die from drought. Some of these factors include the amount of water within living tissues of plants, the number of air bubbles in their vascular system, and the amount of sugars that plants have stored to use during times of stress. He is also interested in the potential role that both fungal symbionts and parasites can have on either reducing or amplifying stress under drought.

Education:

BS in Biology, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona

MS in Terrestrial Ecology, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona CREAF

PhD in Plant Physiology, University of Montana

Google Scholar , Personal website

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Postdoctoral Research Associate

Raiza investigated the anatomical and physiological responses of avocados to laurel wilt diseases during her PhD. Her recent research focuses on linking plant physiology and anatomy with the plant hyperspectral reflectance to sense plant water status. Raiza is also collaborating with the John lab (co-advised by Dr. Grace John) studying inter- and intraspecific variance of in plant form and function of switchgrass.

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Postdoctoral Research Associate

Marylou is a plant ecophysiologist, and during her PhD tried to unravel the main physiological processes driving drought-induced tree mortality.

Marylou was particularly interested in how, under extreme water stress, a decrease in plant’s relative water content, subsequent to the failure of plant’s vascular system, would lead to cell death and particularly meristem death.

She now aims to understand how hotter droughts will affect the vitality of these meristems and ultimately the survival of the plants.

Education:

BS in Biology - Life and Earth Science, Université Clermont Auvergne

MS in Plant Integrative Biology and Breeding, Université Clermont Auvergne

PhD in Plant Biology, Université Clermont Auvergne

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PhD Student — School of Natural Resources and Environment

Medelin is interested in understanding how climate change impacts tree physiology and mortality, currently and under future climate projections. Past investigations have led her to research approaches such as dendrochronology, stable isotopic analysis, and hyperspectral imaging to reveal tree physiological response to hot drought. During her doctorate studies, she aims to continue to pair ecophysiological techniques with hyperspectral imaging to advance the monitoring of trees on a warming planet.

Education:

BS in Biological Sciences, Oklahoma State University

MS in Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University

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PhD Student — Agronomy

Alston is interested in a lot of things, including how climate change is affecting and will affect native plants in the Southeastern United States. They are interested in testing some of the assumptions made about how plants react to changing environments, examining how drought affects native herbaceous plants, and anything else that catches their eye. Alston finished a two year AmeriCorps internship with The Nature Conservancy in south Florida, where they worked extensively in a native plant nursery. When Alston isn’t studying, they enjoy rowing and being outdoors, you can generally find them near some water.

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PhD Student - School of Natural Resources and Environment

Justin is a broadly trained plant physiologist with interests in both crop and tree species. His research is focused on impacts that changing environmental conditions have on plant function and yield in hopes of better understanding these mechanisms in the face of climate uncertainties. Justin’s current dissertation work involves research on the impacts that drought stress has on coffee tree physiology as well as drought’s impacts on the formation of aflatoxin in peanut.

Education:

BS in Biology, Stetson University

MS in Forestry, Mississippi State University

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Master’s Student - Agronomy

Nicole is a Master's student in the Agroecology program. She works as a laboratory technician at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services where she is in charge of rearing the Giant African Land Snail research colony. Her goal is to help make the field of agriculture more sustainable in any way she can. When she isn't studying or playing with giant snails, she loves to cook and hang out with the dogs at the county animal shelter.

Education:

BS in Biology, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee

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Masters Student - School of Natural Resources and Environment

Andrew’s broad research interests lie in forest dynamics, tree mortality, and tree physiology in a changing climate. His undergraduate work explored climate variability and Western Redcedar growth within the Pacific Northwest. This took a dendrochronological approach using tree rings and available climate data to observe how a changing climate was affecting the growth of the trees across coastal and interior populations. He is currently pursuing an MS in Interdisciplinary Ecology monitoring the physiological and growth responses of southeastern pine trees (loblolly and long-leaf pine).

Education:

BS in Environmental Science, Washington State University

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Masters Student - Agronomy

Cross Heintzelman is in his senior year majoring in plant science with a minor of entomology at the University of Florida. Currently his capstone project focuses on coffee development using different treatments on testing coffee seed emergence seeing which one is most successful. A new research project that he is working on is developing a protocol for tissue culture of coffee. With this research he hopes to provide a better understanding of plant physiology in propagation of coffee.

Education:

B.S. in Plant Science

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Master’s Student- Agronomy

Shubekshya is advised by Dr. V. Gopal Kakani, and co-advised by Dr. William Hammond. She is a second-year master’s student in the Department of Agronomy. She is interested in Understanding how spectral pattern/spectral signatures of plants and soil change according to their physiological, morphological, and environmental condition and how their properties can be determined via hyperspectral reflectance. Currently, she is working to identify how the spectral signature changes in soil due to the presence of different nutrients. Her goal is to develop algorithms and soil spectral indices to identify the association between hyperspectral reflectance and soil properties and to validate the model for determining those properties.

Education:

Bachelors of Science in Agriculture, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

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Masters Student - Agronomy

Laura is an agronomist from Colombia. She is interested in understanding how plants adapt and the ways they cope with stress. Her previous work experiences are based on the study of the physiological and biochemical responses of potatoes plants to water stress. During her master’s project she aims to comprehend the effect of drought on peanut plants, identifying a range of drought-resilient growth and survival traits, and how this can affect aflatoxin contamination.

Education:

BS in Agronomy, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

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Research Assistant

Emily, a recent graduate from UF with a bachelor's degree in plant science, is currently researching the thermal limits of corn varieties across growth stages. Her work aims to inform breeders and farmers about the impact of heatwave timing on crop yield and damage. Emily aspires to continue researching plant ecophysiology in the future, focusing on uncovering mechanisms that enhance plant resilience to climate-induced stress.

Education:

BS in Plant Science with a specialization in Plant Breeding and Genetics. Minor in History. 2023.

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Undergraduate Researcher

Chaise is an undergraduate student studying Biology with a focus in Natural Science at the University of Florida. Her main scientific interests include plants, animals, and the ocean. She is looking forward to gaining knowledge and experience in the lab and possibly finding a research project she would be interested in.

Education:

Bachelor of Science in Biology, University of Florida (in progress)

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Fulbright Scholar, 2023

Laura is a PhD student from Colombia, currently a visiting student researcher at Ecophyslab. Her primary interests lie in understanding how plants respond to the environment, their roles in ecosystems, and how this knowledge can be applied to ecosystem management. During her undergraduate and master’s studies, she focused on the interaction of trees with soil nutrient availability and ecohydrological processes, respectively. For her doctoral dissertation, she is concentrated on understanding the impacts of multilevel drought on the risk of mortality and the decline in the growth of native tree species from the Tropical Andean Forest. Additionally, she is interested in studying the functional mechanisms that explain the vulnerability of trees to drought.

Education: BS in Biology, Universidad de Antioquia. MS in Environment and Development, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. PhD student in Environmental Engineer, Universidad de Antioquia.

Education:

BS in Biology, Universidad de Antioquia. MS in Environment and Development, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

PhD - School of Environment, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia (in progress)

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Fulbright Scholar, 2023-2024

Alexandre is currently working on his PhD thesis, the aim of his research is to deciphering the processes of dehydration-induced cell mortality and their relationship to hydraulic failure.

During his stay in our laboratory, his aim will be to study the effect of high temperatures on processes leading to tree cell death, in particular reactive oxygen species. In order to study, predict and model these dynamics, Alexandre will attempt to combine optical, fluorescence and hyperspectral cameras.

Education:

BS in Life and Earth Sciences - Agrosciences, Avignon Université

MS in Plant Biology - Phytoressources and phytosciences, Université Claude Bernard Lyon

PhD student in Plant Biology, Université Clermont Auvergne (in progress)

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Undergraduate Researcher, 2021-2023

Dylan was an undergraduate research assistant in the lab through Summer of 2023. Dylan is now preparing to start a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding in the Munoz lab at UF in fall 2023, and preparing his first manuscript on methods for plant thermal limits. In his free time, Dylan enjoys working with the UF Native Plant Nursery and growing carnivorous plants.

Education:

BS in Plant Science

PhD in Plant Breeding (in progress)

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Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2021-2023

Yang investigated the effects of peanut seed maturity on crop physiology and how these effects manifested over generations during his PhD study. His recent research focuses on both laboratory and field-based studies linking hyperspectral data to critical ecosystem processes, with an emphasis on root development and function.

Education:

BS & MS in Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University

PhD in Agronomy, University of Florida

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Undergraduate Researcher, 2022

Bryan is an undergraduate student studying plant science and environmental engineering at the University of Florida. His research is currently focused on expanding the growing region of coffee to Florida, with the goal of offsetting economic losses suffered due to citrus greening. In the future, Bryan hopes to compliment his training in plant science with environmental engineering to solve problems related to ecological sustainability.

Education:

BS in Environmental Engineering (in progress)

BS in Plant Science (in progress)

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Undergraduate Researcher, 2022-2023

Nicole is an undergraduate student studying Environmental Engineering. Her research currently focuses on spectral ecophysiology, and she is looking forward to continuing and expanding her research after getting her bachelor's degree. Her research interests are primarily in sustainability, and she hopes to further refine these interests as she progresses her research in the field.

Education:

BS in Enviornmental Engineering, University of Florida

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Undergraduate Researcher, 2023

Sofia is an undergraduate student studying Statistics at the University of Florida. They are looking to pursue a career as an Environmental Statistician after getting their bachelor’s degree. Sofia hopes to apply their statistical knowledge in order to help solve problems relating to sustainability and conservation in the future. They are also looking to further pinpoint research interests through research experience in the coming years, with the use of data analytics.

Education:

BA in Statistics + Minor in Mass Communications (in progress)

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Undergraduate Researcher, 2023

Hannah Amaya is studying Plant Science with an interest in sustainable agriculture. Her previous work experience involved integrated pest management (IPM) and researching the use of natural predators against common agricultural pests. She hopes to continue to explore her interests and learn from her peers through her research experience.

Education:

B.S. in Plant Science (in progress)

Undergraduate Researcher, 2022-2023

Eric is a second year undergraduate research student studying Biology with a focus in Biotechnology at The University of Florida. He's hoping to continue to research after getting his bachelor's degree, and to eventually pursue a career in biotechnology. His research interests lie in food crops and their genetics, and he is looking forward to refining these interests through research experience over the coming years.

Education:

BS in Biology (in progress)