I’m a PhD candidate with Rowan Sage at the Dept. of EEB, University of Toronto.
Together with Tammy Sage, I use comparative physiology, anatomy, and ultrastructure to study the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. My thesis develops the idea that latent physiological capacities in plants, revealed as phenotypic plasticity under environmental change, facilitated the origins of derived photosynthetic pathways. More broadly, I’m interested in the ecophysiology of photosynthesis, phylogenetics, and the evolution of complex traits.
I received my BSc from Western University, where I worked with Norm Hüner on photosynthesis in boreal trees grown under high temperature and CO2 conditions.
publications
me🌵 mentee🤩
- Sage, R.F., Leung, A.🌵, Sage, T.L. (in press) Using herbaria to identify the phylogenetic distribution of photosynthetic pathways. Systematic Botany.
- Leung, A.🌵, Chang, B.S.W., Sage, R.F. (2026) Convergence, stability, and thermal adaptation in the rubisco large subunit in plants. Evolution.
- Leung, A.🌵 (2025) Evolutionary innovation, enablers, and the origin of C4 plants. Nature Reviews Biodiversity. 1: 753.
- Leung, A.🌵, Patel, R., Chirachon, V., Stata, M., Macfarlane, T.D., Ludwig, M., Busch, F.A., Sage, T.L., Sage, R.F. (2024) Tribulus (Zygophyllaceae) as a case study for the evolution of C2 and C4 photosynthesis. Plant, Cell & Environment.
- Mok, D.🤩, Leung, A.🌵, Searles, P., Sage, T.L., Sage, R.F. (2023) CAM photosynthesis in Bulnesia retama (Zygophyllaceae), a non-succulent desert shrub from South America. Annals of Botany.
- Leung, A.🌵, Sage, R.F. (2021) Digest: Between invasive species and a hot place: plant evolution under climate change. Evolution.
sci comm
- Smith, D.R., Leung, A.🌵, Zhang, X., Cvetkovska M., Morgan-Kiss, R., Hüner, N.P.A. (2022) An Antarctic alga that can survive the extreme cold. Frontiers for Young Minds.
contact
- Email (art.leung <at> mail.utoronto.ca)
- Bluesky (@aleungplants.bsky.social)