Ruairidh is a maize geneticist focusing on how root traits and rhizosphere microbial communities interact to shape nutrient efficiency, stress tolerance, and local adaptation. 

He makes extensive use of plant varieties incompatible with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to act as sentinel plants, providing a baseline against which to evaluate the impact of this ubiquitous and valuable symbiosis in the field. By combining genetic mapping and transcriptomic analysis, his group is identifying candidate genes implicated in the host response to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The genetic architecture of host response suggests trade-offs between growth with or without the symbiosis. As such, as we look to reduce agricultural inputs and make better use of soil microbes, we may need to consider not only shifts in management practice but also the nature of the crop varieties themselves.