PhD (Hort&Agronomy), UCD Graduate Fellow, Plant Science GSR award
Impact of maize domestication and breeding on rhizosphere eco-physiology and resource acquisition
Email: jenschmidt@ucdavis.edu
Education
- PhD – Plant Sciences, Horticulture and Agronomy (University of California, Davis – Fall 2015)
- BA –Environmental Analysis, sustainable agriculture (Pomona College, 2014)
Research Interests
I am interested in rhizosphere processes as applied to sustainable agriculture. Complex interactions between plant roots and biotic as well as abiotic soil components have a tremendous, but often underappreciated, influence on the food we grow. My work focuses on how domestication and breeding have affected the maize rhizosphere, particularly their effects on response to limited nutrient availability. A better understanding of changes that impact nutrient limitation response can be applied to low-input agricultural systems. More broadly, I am also interested in other areas of sustainable agriculture such as cover cropping, crop rotation systems, and soil nutrient cycling.