B. S. (1986) Univ. of CA Santa Barbara, Chemistry Ph. D. (1992) Stanford University, Chemistry

The research in my laboratory focuses on understanding the mechanisms of heavy metal accumulation and transformation in higher plant systems from a chemical and molecular perspective. A variety of physical and biochemical techniques are being used to investigate the distribution and transformation of heavy metals by plants including atomic absorption spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, HPLC, size exclusion chromatography and X ray absorption spectroscopy. The goals of this research are to determine the change in speciation (oxidation state, geometry, coordination environment) that occurs upon accumulation of the metals by plants and to identify the biomolecules involved in metal complexation, thus providing insight into mechanisms of heavy metal tolerance in plants. The effect of heavy metals on gene expression is being investigated using polymerase chain reaction fingerprinting techniques and subtractive hybridization techniques. We hope to identify the genes involved in the transformation pathways we are characterizing by the techniques described above.