Chair & Professor, Biology Department
- Ivory V. Nelson Science Center Room 221
I teach Genetics, Molecular Biology, Botany and the plant section of an introductory Biology course for majors. My research interests are in the areas of plant-people interactions. Current funding supports metabolomics and genetics research in the field of nutrition and cancer susceptibility in minority populations. Specifically, I am investigating the interaction between genetic components and cruciferous vegetable consumption and their combined modulation of cancer risk. In collaboration with the Chemistry Department at Lincoln University, I lead a population-based research project that aims to understand the combined contribution of genetics and environmental modulators such as smoking and cruciferous vegetable consumption on cancer risk in minority and majority populations. I support several undergraduate researchers that are encouraged to design their own research projects within the areas of plant-people interaction to examine both behavioral and biological aspects of such interactions. My passion for fostering scientific curiosity among young people is, beyond the walls of the classroom and research laboratory, fed by volunteering in the local school district and serving as the Principal Investigator on collaborative grants that fund summer internship positions for Lincoln University students at local research centers. In addition, I lead a campus gardening project and serve on the board of the Friends of the State Line Serpentine Barrens, a local friends group that work to conserve native Serpentine Barren grasslands.