Master of Science Research

During my undergraduate studies, I got involved working with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) when I started working with Dr. Susan Meyer at the USDA Forest Service Shrub Sciences Laboratory.

We developed microsatellite genetic markers and surveyed about 1000 plants for genetic variation. This took so long that I decided to stay on at Brigham Young University for a Master's degree.

Building on Dr. Meyer's extensive previous research with cheatgrass, we were able to discern that cheatgrass populations are indeed genetically quite distinct.

Not only are populations distinct, they are also very well adapted to the many different environments they inhabit. The correlations we made between genetic markers and fitness-related characters were possible due to the extremely high inbreeding rate of cheatgrass.