Before coming to UTK, I served for 3 years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, in southern Africa. I really gained a passion for agriculture and sustainability while I observed and experienced some of the massive environmental and social challenges to food production that much of the world faces. It was this passion that led me to University of Tennessee, to study the interactions of plants, water, and climate in the context of sustainable production systems. I am interested in continuing to explore how climate will shape the future of food production and how we, as scientists, can develop ideas and models for resilient agroecosystems.