Congratulations to Dr. Qi being awarded an NSF grant for her work in the stomatal development in Arabidopsis. This award will allow the Qi Lab to continue their research in stomatal development and drought tolerance by exploring the function of naturally produced stress hormones. The Qi lab has identified a drought mutant and by analysis of this mutant has revealed that stress hormone signaling is enhanced and stomatal formation is inhibited. This award will also allow the Qi lab to continue research into the function of stress hormone signaling in the mutant and how the signaling of this hormone may affect drought tolerance. This award will also assist in the formation of a new undergraduate lab course which will teach students a wide range of laboratory techniques. If you would like to read more about the grant and the proposed project, check out this link: NSF Award Search: Award # 2217757 – BRC-BIO: Investigation of the role of the plant hormone, abscisic acid, in stomatal formation using a novel drought-tolerant mutant