Eco Flick Lab

My work in the Brunet lab focused on understanding how plants, pollinators, and landscapes interact to shape gene flow and population dynamics.

I developed mathematical models to predict how bees move within and among fields, helping us understand how pollen—and genes—spread across landscapes. This work is especially important for understanding gene flow in transgenic crops.

I also studied weedy relatives of crops, including wild carrot and feral alfalfa, focusing on how their life histories and environments shape population dynamics. For example, wild carrot is typically a two-year plant, but individuals within a population can vary widely in lifespan, with important consequences for how populations persist and spread.

This work sits at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and applied questions about agriculture and gene flow. I continue to collaborate on research related to transgenic alfalfa and plant–pollinator interactions.

I studied feral alfalfa as reservoirs for man-made genes, pests, and diseases across the US. I spent a summer in Fresno and Walla Walla observing roadside alfalfa plants and testing them for the RoundUp Ready gene. I analyzed how pollinators influence phenotypic selection and pollen deposition in alfalfa, and worked with bees in Wisconsin to study how pollination drives gene flow from GM to conventional plants.

This work resulted in two publications on how pollinators influence phenotypic selection and gene flow in alfalfa. I continue to work with these data, including a current manuscript on how management practices and abiotic factors influence seed yield and inbreeding in alfalfa farms across the western United States. Together, this work links pollinator behavior, environmental conditions, and agricultural practices to plant reproduction and evolutionary outcomes.