I am interested in understanding how changes in developmental processes shape plant leaf and flower diversity and how these changes contributed to the success of flowering plant lineages. 

My research combines classic molecular biology approaches, a range of imaging and image analysis methods, and computational modelling of biological processes, to produce a mechanistic understanding of how genes regulate complex patterning events during plant development, such as organ initiation, identity and morphology, and how these processes evolve to give rise to plant diversity.  

My current research focuses on the origin and diversification of the carpel.

I am taking a developmental approach to uncover the links between different plant organs and the recurrent evolution of complex plant shapes.