My research focuses primarily on understanding how fire, drought, and other factors control tree success and vegetation structure in savannas and forests of North and South America, with particular attention to the Cerrado region of central Brazil and longleaf pine ecosystems of southeastern U.S.  To understand these factors from both functional and evolutionary perspectives, my work involves multiple approaches, including ecophysiology, phylogenetic analyses, controlled experiments, demographic studies, and modeling.

Courses taught:

• PB570 Plant Functional Ecology
• PB595 Special Topics: Plant Water Relations