Plant development is dynamically influenced by the environment. We study the genetic networks that enable plants to sense and respond to environmental signals. My lab is currently focused on solving an important mystery of fire ecology: how is seed germination activated after a fire by chemical signals found in smoke? A potent class of germination-promoting compounds known as karrikins were identified in smoke in 2004. We are now using genetic approaches in the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana to define the karrikin signaling mechanism in plants.