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I am an agroecologist with broad interests in understanding the impact of management practices on ecological processes in agricultural systems and exploring the potential of ecological intensification approaches to foster a productive, resilient, and sustainable agroecosystem. I am particularly interested in harnessing plant-soil-microbe interactions for improved ecosystem functionality and services involved in crop nutrition and production, soil nutrient and carbon cycling, and system resilience under abiotic and biotic stresses.

I am currently a postdoctoral scholar working with Dr. Ruairidh Sawers at the Pennsylvania State University. In the Sawers lab, my research is focusing on understanding the genetic architecture and mechanisms of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), an essential soil microbial group, for corn production and stress resistance. I have also been working as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Amélie Gaudin at University of California-Davis, where I combined systematically quantitative analyses and long-term field experiments to investigate soil-health management practices for agroecosystem resilience and multi-functionality.

I received my Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign working with Dr. Adam Davis. My Ph.D. research focused on the impact of AMF on crop and weed growth and the potential use for Integrated Weed Management. Before that, I got my M.S. and B.S. degrees from China Agricultural University working in Dr. Long Li‘s lab. My M.S. research focused on the role of root exudation in mediating root-root interactions in the wheat-maize intercropping system.

Education:

2017 Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (PhD)

2012 Plant Nutrition, China Agricultural University (MS)

2010 Plant and Soil Sciences, China Agricultural University (BS)