Applied Weed Physiology Lab

A weed research program that focuses on furthering our understanding of basic weed biology and ecology to improve weed management.

The goal of the AWPL is to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying weed evolution to agricultural practices and climate change. Understanding how weeds adapt to agricultural practices will better equip stakeholders to manage troublesome weeds. Weed species exhibit rapid adaptation to new, challenging environments, and are a rich source of adaptive traits that could be used to improve crop resilience to climate change. The AWPL integrates interdisciplinary strategies to address our hypotheses and takes advantage of a well-developed network of collaborators from diverse backgrounds, nationally and internationally, who facilitate the formulation of novel research questions and approaches. We adopt techniques from various fields (e.g., whole-genome sequencing, population genomics, plant breeding) to address questions on weed adaptation that could benefit cropping systems and enhance food security.