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Associate Professor, Co-Director WNC Herbarium and Curator of Algae

Department of Biology and Marine Biology and Center for Marine Science 5600 Marvine K. Moss Lane, Wilmington, NC 28409

PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION
UNC-Wilmington Marine Biology B.S. 1990
College of William & Mary Biology M.A. 1992
Louisiana State University Botany/Phycology Ph.D. 1996 Bigelow Laboratory forOcean Sciences Phycology/Systematics Postdoc 1996-1999)



Contact Informaton:

Phone: 910-962-2371
Fax: 910-962-2410
Email: [email protected]

 

 

• Our research focuses on the biodiversity, systematics, genomics, and evolution of eukaryotic organisms placed in the supergroup ‘Chromalveolata’.  This lineage putatively includes four principal groups including the alveolates, cryptomonads, haptophytes and stramenopiles.  Each of these four groups includes one or more taxa fitting the definition of ‘phytoplankton’, i.e., microscopic, autotrophic photosynthetic “plant wanderers” found in aquatic (estuarine, freshwater, marine) and damp terrestrial habitats.  Other species in these groups have abandoned photosynthesis for heterotrophic means of nutrient acquisition. Our group uses a variety of tools to explore “How, why, and when…” these organisms evolved and how and if ecological differences among species are reflected based on comparative studies of their morphology, life cycles, phylogenetic histories, and their genomes.  For further information on our research programsclick here