My overall research interests are to understand how plant cells communicate through signal transduction pathways to regulate plant growth and development in Arabidopsis and Brassica (canola).  One area that we investigate is the signalling systems regulating compatible and self-incompatible pollen responses in the pistil.  These are critical recognition systems for selecting which pollen grains will be accepted or rejected, and thus, selecting optimal pollen grains for fertilization.  By studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of these recognition systems, my research group has identified several new protein players including a receptor kinase, E3 ubiquitin ligase, and the exocyst complex.  Typically, the genes encoding these proteins belong to multi-gene families, and so, we also use functional genomics approaches to characterize these gene families, identify novel plant signalling networks, and determine the biological processes that are regulated by these networks in Arabidopsis.  Finally, we also investigate the biological functions of a novel receptor kinase family, the PERK family, in Arabidopsis.