Research

• Research currently centers on the evolution through geologic time of fungal plant pathogens that primarily infect leaf surfaces. Diseases such as powdery mildews, rusts, and others have a large impact in the environment and agriculture, yet little is known about how these relationships developed and how infection rates were affected through the major climate changes in the past. I am currently studying the change in numbers and types of fungi across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, one of the best-known large climate change events.

Publications

• 2006 Entopeltacites from the Miocene of Idaho, USA. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology , in press, preprint available online from ScienceDirect. Phipps, C. J.
• 2004 Epiphyllous fungi from the Miocene of Idaho: Reproductive structures. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 129 (1-2): 67-79. Phipps, C. J. and W. C. Rember.

Projects

• Mentor for Planting Science, an online collaboration between professional botanists and high school biology classes
• Instructor in middle school girls’ math and science day camps
• Instructor in elementary school teachers’ biology workshops
• Reviewer for Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, International Journal of Plant Sciences, and American Journal of Botany
• Member of Botanical Society of America, International Organisation of Palaeobotany, Association for Women in Science, Sigma Xi

Presentations

• History of plant life on earth
• Evolution and natural selection
• Genetically modified crops