Assistant Professor of Biology
Dr. Conn researches antagonistic relationships that involve plants. Half of her work focuses on parasitic plants from the Orobanchaceae family and addresses questions about the genes that enable them to interact with hosts. Dr. Conn also studies the relationship between American chestnut trees and the fungal blight that has driven them to functional extinction.
Education
- PhD in Genetics; The University of Georgia, Athens, GA; Dissertation title: The molecular evolution of strigolactone perception in plants; 2017
- BS in Biology; The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA; 2011
Teaching Interests
- Genetics
- Biological Diversity
- Evolution
Research Interests
- parasitic plants
- gene duplication
- phylogenetics