My research investigates the mechanisms of adaptive differentiation and speciation. I am especially interested in how plants respond to their local environments, and the role those adaptations play in diversification at the genomic, population, and species levels. While evidence for local adaptation in plants is abundant, much less is known about the particular traits and genes that confer this specialization to specific environments. To this end, my research uses the wildflower genera Ipomopsis and Mimulus to examine how environmental variation influences phenotypic and genetic variation among natural plant populations. I combine observations of natural populations and experimental manipulations in the field and greenhouse with tools from quantitative genetics and physiological ecology. My projects take me to field sites in the northern Cascades in Washington, down through the Southern California foothills, and eastward to the Colorado rockies. Together, these studies provide insight into how environmental stresses, adaptation to these conditions, and evolutionary change are intertwined, using tractable, ecologically relevant systems.