Environmental Internship Program - 2023 Booklet

Peyton Smith ’25
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
Certificate: American Studies
PROJECT TITLE
Plant Pathogens in a
High-altitude System
ORGANIZATION(S)
Metcalf Lab,
Department of Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology,
Princeton University
LOCATION(S)
Rocky Mountain
Biological Laboratory,
Gothic, Colorado
MENTOR(S)
C. Jessica E. Metcalf,
Associate Professor of
Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology and Public Affairs,
Princeton University;
Keenan Duggal, Research
Associate, High Meadows
Environmental Institute,
Princeton University;
Juliana Jiranek, Ph.D.
candidate, Biology,
University of Virginia
I investigated the effect of elevation on
the spread of a fungal pathogen, flax rust
(Melampsora lini), on Lewis flax (Linum lewisii),
a purple wildflower in the Rocky Mountains.
Though this plant pathogen system has been
investigated as a model of molecular plant-fungal
interactions for decades, little is known about
how climate change may affect its spread within
and between hosts. We studied the impact of
climate on disease by using replicate elevational
transects to collect standardized observations
and measurements. Each week, we hiked to the
transects to survey plants for rust. The data we
collected will be used to understand further and
model plant-pathogen interactions, which could
inform agricultural practices to support food
security in the coming decades. In addition to
fieldwork, I gained experience using the software
R for image analysis and spatial data. I have long
been interested in host-pathogen interactions
in humans, but this project introduced me
to the intricate world of disease ecology and
plant pathogens. Consequently, I developed an
appreciation for the complicated nature of these
coevolved plant-pathogen systems that will
frame my future research.
CLIMATE AND
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
33