In my research, I use empirical and mathematical tools to understand how plant movement influences population and community dynamics. In particular, I focus on how different global change factors like, habitat fragmentation, nutrient loading, and alterations to native herbivore communities cause changes in plant reproduction and dispersal, and the resulting consequences of this movement for conservation and restoration ecology.

Plant dispersal is an important demographic process that drives both ecological (e.g. community assembly, invasions) and evolutionary (e.g. gene flow) dynamics. My research program entwines field-based experiments with theory to more deeply understand dispersal as a process. Specifically, I experimentally address common simplifying assumptions about dispersal, and create theoretical models that incorporate these results to more accurately represent how dispersal plays a role in structuring plant population and community dynamics. My goal is to find ways to harness natural dispersal to increase plant species diversity in restored landscapes.