Dr. Joe Pollard, Professor and Chair of Biology

My recent research has focused on plants that “hyperaccumulate” heavy metals, i.e. concentrate elements such as zinc or nickel to exceptionally high concentrations in leaf tissues. This phenomenon is relatively rare; only about 425 species of plants in the world are known to do it. They are of interest in part because of their potential use for clean-up of polluted soils. The particular topics that my students and I have studied include (1) the extent to which hyperaccumulation is a genetically variable character within species, (2) the adaptive significance of hyperaccumulation, particularly the possibility that it functions as a defense against herbivores, and (3) the extent to which hyperaccumulator plants may facilitate the transfer of metals into food chains.

To read one of our recently published review papers about the genetics of hyperaccumulation, click here.