Rocheford, a
plant geneticist at Purdue, drew the attention of the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for his research on variations affecting provitamin A carotenoids — naturally occurring
plant pigments that our
bodies can convert to vitamin A — in maize.
The findings track with the growing
body of research on the impact of insects on forest fire severity, said Carolyn Sieg, a research
plant ecologist with the
U.S. Forest Service.