I am a doctoral student studying RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM). My projects include fluorescence in-situ hybridization in Brassica rapa seeds and ovules and tissue-specific complementation of RDR2 (an important protein in RdDM) in plants that inherently lack this protein. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) allows us to detect the small RNAs that direct methylation in plants by placing a fluorescent tag on sequence-specific RNA molecules. Through the use of microscopy, we can physically see where these molecules are within the plant.