Dianne Pater Contact info: University of California, San Diego Biological Sciences Muir Biology Building, 0116 La Jolla, CA 92093-0116 Lab: 858-534-7432 E-mail: dpater@ucsd.edu

About myself:

I am a PhD graduate student in Julian Schroeder’s lab at UCSD and I am collaborating with John McKay’s lab at Colorado State University. I graduated from the University of New Mexico with a B.S in Biology, where I was a member of David Hanson’s lab. As  I am deeply committed to both mentoring students and increasing diversity in science, I am active in professional organizations such as SACNAS and AWIS.

Current Research:

Abiotic stresses, including drought, elicit production of the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA), which activates drought resistance responses including gene expression and closing of stomata through a complex signaling pathway. Stomatal closure reduces the amount of transpirational water loss of plants. I work with the crop plant Brassica napus (canola) analyzing transgenic plants as well as double hybrid lines with altered water use efficiency QTL to assess drought resistance responses while also analyzing defined growth parameters.

Publications:

M. Heckwolf, D. Pater, D.T. Hanson, R. Kaldenhoff. “The Arabidopsis aquaporin At PIP1;2 is a physiologically relevant CO2 transport facilitator.” The Plant Journal, Vol. 67, September 2011, p. 795-804.