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Waterland, Nicole

Associate Professor of Horticulture and Director of Greenhouse

Research Interests

  1. Climate Change and Environmental Stress; to investigate the impact of climate change (elevated CO2, temperature and water deficit stress) on plant growth and development using petunia and blueberry as model systems at the molecular level
  2. Plant Nutrition and Human Health; to analyze and enhance health promoting phytochemicals in vegetables (lettuce, spinach, kale and arugula) and medicinal plants (ginseng) using programmable LED, targeted fertilization and biotechnology
  3. Sustainable Crop Production In Controlled Environments ; to produce specialty crops (wild leeks, ginseng and other medicinal crops) in greenhouse, aquaponic and hydroponic system through increasing sustainability of natural resources

To accomplish goals described above, in my lab modern molecular technologies are utilized.

  1. Biotechnology and omics ; to investigate the function(s) of gene(s) and to genetically engineer crops with desirable traits, molecular technology including, but not limited to, Golden Gate Cloning, CRISPR-CAS9, particle gun and Agrobacterium -mediated transformation and tissue culture is being used. To analyze the data and to extract valuable take-home messages, omics approach (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) is practiced.

Publications

  1. Waterland, N.L ., C.A. Campbell, J.J. Finer and M.L. Jones, 2010, Abscisic acid application enhances drought stress tolerance in bedding plants. HortScience. 45:409-413.

  2. Park, S., S.A. Mills, Y. M oon and N.L. Waterland , 2016, Evaluation of antitranspirants for enhancing temporary water stress tolerance in bedding plants. HortTechnology. (In press).

  3. Kim, M.J., Y. Moon, J.C. Tou, B. Mou and N.L. Waterland , 2016, Nutritional value, bioactive compounds and health benefits of lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.). J. of Food Composition and Analysis 49:19-34.

  4. Buzby, K.M., N.L. Waterland, K.J. Semmens and L.-S. Lin, 2016, Evaluating aquaponic crops in a freshwater flow-through fish culture system.  Aquaculture 460:15-24.

  5. Buzby, K.M., T.P. West, N.L. Waterland , and L.-S. Lin, 2016, Remediation of flow-through trout raceway effluent via aquaponics.  North American Journal of Aquaculture (In press) 

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