Jeremy D. Rentsch, PhD

Current Research

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Reproductive Ecology of Yucca aloifolia.

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I have performed research previously to demonstrate that Y. aloifolia is being pollinated diurnally by the European honey bee (Apis mellifera). This research was performed on a single plant population. I am in the process of planning additional pollinator exclusion studies and collecting fruits from Y. aloifolia from across the south eastern United States in order to more accurately describe the relative abundance of moth versus non-moth pollination and discuss the potential impacts on reproductive fitness in the species.

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unPAK Project - Undergraduates Phenotyping Arabidopsis Knockouts.

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The unPAK project is a collaboration among a number of universities, including: the College of Charleston, Barnard College, Hampden-Sydney College, and the University of Georgia. The goal of this project is to phenotype Arabidopsis knockout mutants using a standard, project-wide protocol. Students will take ownership of multiple mutants and follow the development of their knockouts through the entirety of its life cycle (~six weeks). Students take standard, frequent measurements and compare their knockout mutants to wild type individuals, which allows students to qualitatively and quantitatively identify the phenotype caused by their particular mutation. Much of this research is exploratory and allows students to develop their scientific inquiry skills while potentially finding interesting mutants to explore further.