Tanya Quist received a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from Purdue University’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture where she studied in the Center for Plant Environmental Stress Physiology. Her thesis and post-doctoral work used whole plant physiological and molecular genetics approaches to explore plant responses to abiotic stress, including drought and salt. These studies built on previous work in her B.S. and M.S. programs which aimed at understanding the effects of water quality and cultural practices on growth and performance of woody landscape plants. Currently, Tanya's primary role at the University of Arizona is in undergraduate instruction. She has more than 17 years of teaching experience, and has developed dozens of lecture and lab courses, featuring collaborative learning approaches and active learning strategies in the classroom with additional student mentoring in service learning projects and other evidence based practice both on- and off-campus. In total, she has mentored more than 75 undergraduate researchers in a range of topics all relating to the interrelationships of plants and the natural and built environments. As she holds a secondary role in Cooperative Extension, as the Director of the University of Arizona Campus Arboretum, she provides both statewide education and campus leadership promoting science-based stewardship and conservation of urban trees. In this capacity, she uses informal educational approaches to promote and distribute recent urban forestry and horticultural research relating to the fundamental role of trees within all ecosystems, and the value of healthy, diverse tree populations to improving human health and contributing to local and global climate adaptation.

Stress physiology and urban sustainability.