Ripley (former name: Wen-Ping Hsieh) completed her professional training in plant science in Taiwan. She joined the Climate Change and Air Quality Research team in the PSRU, USDA-ARS in 2019. She has employed her expertise in plant molecular biology, biochemistry, and physiology to investigate environmental impacts on plant heath, soil microbial interactions, and soil properties. Her goal is to develop scientific solutions that improve US agricultural and food system sustainability. Her program works closely with breeders, geneticists, ecologists, and other scientists in multidisciplinary sectors.

Research rationale:

Global warming is attributed to elevated heat-trapping greenhouses gases. So, greenhouse gases and rising temperatures often co-occur and degrade crop health and productivity. Tropospheric ozone (O₃) is one of the most harmful greenhouse gases to crop health and yield, as well as agricultural ecosystems. However, how ozone interacts with other environmental stresses and greenhouse gases is not well understood. While the race is on to mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions, there is an accompanying urgency to enhance knowledge of plant responses to elevated ozone and co-occurring rising temperatures. We hope our research contributions can come up with direct solutions to tackle future air pollution and climate threats to food security.

Research approach:

• Identifying climate-resilient crops

To assess ozone and heat resilience, we further test plants with separated and combined elevated ozone and heat using the Field-based Climate Change System (FCCS, for heat + ozone stress) and characterize stress-resilient traits and crop yield.

• Determining plant molecular, biochemical, and physiological responses under environmental stresses

To understand the molecular and biochemical regulations that account for physiological responses under greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, we have applied "multi-omic" approaches as well as physiological measurements to reveal this knowledge gap.

• Investigating interactions of plant roots and soil microbes

Evidence shows environmental stresses, including air pollution and rising temperatures, often rapidly impact root growth and interactions between roots and soil microbes, which essentially affects plant performance. However, impacts of these stresses on roots have been overlooked. We put special emphasis on characterizing root molecular and biochemical responses to climate change and on identifying soil microbial network dynamics associated with carbon and nitrogen allocation in the agricultural eco-system.

Please check our lab website for more information.

Contact information:

Ripley Tisdale, PhD

Plant Physiologist, USDA-ARS

Lab address: 3127 Ligon Street Rm14, Raleigh NC 27607

Email: Ripley.tisdale@usda.gov

Lab phone: +1 (919) 515-9495