Seed plants develop specialized structures at their shoot tips called shoot apical meristems, which contain stem cells responsible for upward growth, leaf formation, and eventually, the production of flowers and fruits. Ferns, which are vascular plants but reproduce through spores instead of seeds, also develop shoot meristems; however, these structures differ significantly in their organization and morphology from those in seed plants. Additionally, ferns possess unique meristems crucial to their life cycle that are absent in seed plants, such as leaf meristems that drive prolonged vegetative growth and multicellular meristems during their reproductive gametophyte phase. This project aims to uncover the fundamental processes guiding the formation and maintenance of these diverse meristems in ferns. The research will identify key regulators that are either shared across plant lineages or unique to ferns. The outcomes will enhance the understanding of how plant developmental strategies evolved over time. Besides advancing scientific knowledge, the project will actively engage students and teachers in STEM fields. Each summer, high school science teachers will receive hands-on training through the Purdue professional summer institute workshop, enabling them to develop interacting biology labs using ferns. High school and undergraduate students will be recruited through established institutional programs, directly participating in fern research. Additionally, undergraduate stude