Frontier Fellow 2024-2025:
Hanna Hekkanen
Title of Research Project: “Developing Climate Resilient Crops: a multi-trait analysis of the dry farm
tomato Solanum lycopersicum”
Summary:
Hanna is a third year student double majoring in Plant Science and Agroecology. She is working
under Dr. Jarmila Pittermann, Dr. Darryl Wong, and graduate student Viridiana Castro to further the
study of sustainable, drought-resistant cropping systems. Specifically, she will examine the
physiology of dry-farmed crops, such as tomatoes and beans. Understanding the resource allocation
mechanisms of these crops can tell us a lot about crop adaptation and yields under drought deficit.
The end-goal is to provide useful growing information and seeds to any farmer wishing to implement
dry-farming, and to work toward enhanced food security amidst a changing climate. Through her
coursework, Hanna has developed interests in crop physiology, sustainable agriculture, and soil
conservation. Following graduation in the Spring of 2025, she hopes to begin graduate school and
further bridge plant sciences with agroecological principles.