Email: vpathare@illinois.edu

PhD in Plant Biology: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (Western Sydney University, Australia)

Research interests: Broadly, I am a botanist and a plant ecophysiologist interested in advancing our understanding about plant-climate interactions and in using this information to predict and combat the impacts of climate change on our ecosystems. Central to my approach is the integration of plant traits and processes associated with CO2-uptake, storage, and water-use across the scales of space, time, and biological organization (biochemical > cellular > leaf > whole-plant > ecosystem-level). I work on diverse plant species belonging to both C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways and conduct field and climate-controlled experiments while leveraging on a variety of techniques from the field of plant ecophysiology, biochemistry, stable isotope ecology, modelling, and statistics. In my current position at Prof. Leakey’s lab, I investigate how modification of stomatal traits affects the water-use efficiency and drought tolerance capacity in legume crops, primarily Soybean.

Personal interests: I am passionate about inclusive teaching and mentoring and promoting a diverse yet equitable and inclusive environment. Besides these, I love Gardening, Painting and Cooking