Dr. Vollbrecht's research lab investigates basic questions about how plants are built, including why and how certain plant parts like leaves or stems are produced at certain times and places, and how these processes are controlled in response to environmental challenges like drought stress. Using genetic, molecular, genomics and other approaches, this work uncovers molecular mechanisms that function during plant development and in the regulation of gene expression by genetic and epigenetic means. Their research also develops laboratory tools to facilitate genome-scale discovery. Most of this work is done in maize, an important food and commodity crop, and can often be translated to other crop and plant species.