What I do

A number of people have asked me to post a brief description of exactly what I do. So here it goes…



You may have learned back in high school that plants take in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen during photosynthesis. This is only partly true. While the net flux of gasses is carbon dioxide in and oxygen out, other plant processes take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide at lower rates than photosynthesis. Some of these processes are a big headache for the plant and result in wasted energy and lost carbon. I am looking at possible ways to minimize the amount of carbon dioxide that bleeds from the plant during these processes in order to maximize the potential carbon gain of the plant. If you want more specifics, check out the Wikipedia article on photorespiration.