Scholar Spotlight: Chuck Price
“I use physics to study how natural selection shapes the geometry of plants, in particular branching patterns in trees, and how communities of trees fit together.”
Chuck Price
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB)
Using physical models based on idealized fluid distribution networks, I study how natural selection has shaped the geometry of tree form and branching, including roots, stems and leaves, and tree communities.
Several models I have derived accurately predict the geometry of plant form based on physical first principles. These models suggest that despite the amazing variety of plant form, very simple rules govern plant branching geometry and morphology.
Why I Do What I Do
I’ve always been fascinated by the natural world, and my interest in ecology and evolutionary biology solidified during my experience as an EEB undergraduate at UT many moons ago.
Currently Working On
In a paper recently published with EEB Assistant Professor Jacob Suissa, we show that branch tips across the land plant phylogeny are strikingly constrained in their geometric patterns of growth.