As atmospheric ozone concentration changes, we need to improve our understanding of the way that plants acquire and retain their nutrients in different conditions so we can continue to grow and harvest crops for our survival. Many studies have only modeled the impacts of ozone on species such as maize; fewer have directly quantified physiological and biochemical responses to ozone stress in maize.

This image represents a larger project that uses a multifaceted approach to understand the physiological and biochemical responses of maize grown under elevated ozone. The spots of blue were generated by a lab procedure that measures phenolic content—the presence of important plant compounds—in samples of maize. The burned out wood in the background resembles a desert, once-living plant matter that has lost many of its nutrients.