1) Our Main project is the study of the molecular evolution and
intraspecific/interspecific phylogeny of Arabidopsis thaliana.
Arabidopsis is a species that is grows over most of the world--
Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. We are interested in
how the various populations that have been isolated over evolutionary
time have changed and altered from one another both physically and
genetically. We study differences in DNA polymorphic markers between
the various populations and use those differences to construct statistical
models that help us predict just how much isolated groups have changed from
one another. This can help us to understand how speciation occurs-- speciation
is the process where two isolated populations of the same species become two
separate species.
3) Finally, we are interested in the storage and utilization of the plant
hormone Indole Acetic Acid (IAA). My lab is presently cloning homologs from
Arabidopsis suecica of an enzyme utilized in activation of IAA from it
storage form in plants.
In addition to the regular courses that I teach I also mentor undergraduate
students in independent research as they aid me in these various research
projects. Students learn the scientific method, how to think independently,
how to analyze data, how to properly prepare scientific notebooks, and how
to present their data to others. Of course, all this work is in addition to
learning different laboratory methods in molecular genetics and plant
biology.
