Aleca Borsuk

Profile

The leaf is a bridge between the abiotic and biotic worlds. From sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water come the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the biosphere we call home. This transformation—photosynthesis—takes place within the miniature world of the leaf’s interior, where convoluted passageways govern the transport of critical resources such as water and light. Thus, to understand the conditions by which photosynthesis is constrained or optimized, it is necessary to understand how biophysical processes are coordinated within the heterogeneous inner landscape of the leaf. As a doctoral student at Yale F&ES, I am working to understand the leaf as a tunable substrate for the reactions of photosynthesis. From this vantage of fundamental plant ecophysiology, I will leverage my findings into innovative approaches to conservation and management, agricultural resilience, and bio-inspired clean energy technology.