Welcome!
We are botanists at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor!
September 4th, 2024
Please share with anyone who might be interested: applications for the
graduate program at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
at the University of Michigan are open until December 1st,
2024, with activities starting in August 2025.
I’m looking for a Ph.D. student to join my lab this year! Our work is mostly focused on systematics and functional biogeography of angiosperms. More details can be found on the department’s website https://lsa.umich.edu/eeb/graduates/prospective-students/eeb-application-information.html
Prospective students are advised to contact me to discuss potential projects before applying: tvasc@umich.edu.
Our research
Currently, research in our lab is focused on two key areas:
Systematics, evolution, and ecology of Myrtales
We investigate plant ecology and evolution in under-researched tropical regions, with a particular focus on lineages within the order Myrtales (which includes plants such as guavas, pomegranates, and cloves). We use a range of methods and data including trait measurements, biogeographical analyses and phylogenetic inferences to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the environment has influenced the evolution of this plant group and how different Myrtales lineages are related to one another.
Discovering the rules of plant biogeography using a trait-based approach
We utilize natural history collections and trait characterization tools to gather large sets of occurrence data and functional traits. These datasets are then combined with molecular phylogenies and phylogenetic comparative methods to quantify the correlation between traits and environments throughout the evolution of flowering plants. Our goal is to utilize trait-environment correlation analyses to uncover general patterns in plant biogeography by measuring how unrelated plant lineages have evolved similar traits in response to a specific environment.