Professor Burnett's curiosity about the sudden reduction in size of Yixing-ware teapots during the late Ming, and the relationship this has to the period discourse of originality in 17th-century China prompted her to seek others across campus who might also be interested in studying tea-related issues, which in turn led to the founding of UC Davis’s Global Tea Initiative for the Study of Tea Culture and Science. Professor Burnett has expanded her research to investigate the relationship between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors between 1300–1700, when brewed tea became the norm. This fascinating border-crossing project is leading to many new insights about the history of tea and how culture is formed.