|
Zoe recently joined the Plant Ecology Lab as a postdoctoral fellow and plans to investigate the evolutionary relationships of terrestrial orchids in the genus Platanthera and their associated mycorrhizal fungi. Newly developed techniques will be used to investigate whether enzyme activity in orchid mycorrhizal fungi is influenced by fungal relationships or habitat variables. This will determine which fungi are best for different orchid species under different environmental conditions. Investigations of enzymatic activity in fungal taxa associating with Platanthera species could reveal why this genus and most other photosynthetic orchids, associate with two narrow taxonomic groups of distantly related fungi. Understanding the ecology of partner choice in orchid mycorrhizas provides important information for maintaining these essential interactions and their ecosystem functions in the face of environmental change.
Prior to joining SERC, Zoe served as an environmental consultant and postdoctoral research fellow at the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology. She has even managed to squeeze in a research internship at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England.
Zoe enjoys discussing her orchids and field research throughout the Australian landscape. The Lab is hoping for wild stories about kangaroos, koalas and other exotic Australian wildlife. So far, Zoe has only reported that cows licking cars is not an urban myth. Still, all of us agree that finding a tiny, new orchid seedling is always amazing.
|
