I work on mechanisms of photosynthesis, including effects of environmental stress and global climate change, with studies ranging from the cellular to the whole plant level in C3, C4 and CAM plants. Research on C4 photosynthesis is focused on diversity in structure, function and evolution in grasses and eudicot families. This includes studies on species in family Chenopodiaceae from Central Asian Deserts that are adapted to high temperature, drought, and salinity. Research is also being conducted on chenopods which, surprisingly, can perform C4 photosynthesis within individual photosynthetic cells; i.e. without the dual-cell Kranz type anatomy which was previously thought to be required. I am a member of a consortium of scientists whose goal is exploring the potential for genetic engineering of rice, a C3 crop, to perform C4 photosynthesis.