Research Integration with Collaboration

Paula Jackson, interim chair of the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology in the College of Science and Mathematics, was the featured guest on Feb. 4. She shared how collaboration is an integral part of her research philosophy whether it be studying the ecology and physiology of plants or enhancing the undergraduate research experience at KSU. 

As a tropical plant ecophysiologist, Jackson is interested in the interplay between water availability, plant photosynthetic rates, and plant distribution patterns. Over the last few years, her research has focused on understanding water acquisition patterns of trees and how these patterns may influence the structure and function of the most endangered terrestrial ecosystems of the world: tropical dry forests. 

Jackson, who also service as interim associate dean of research for the college, joined the university in 1999 as an assistant professor in what was then the Department of Biology and Physics. She holds a Ph.D. in Tropical Plant Ecology and Physiology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Learn more about Dr. Jackson!