Current Position Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California at Riverside

Research Interests (1) The evolution of plant development and morphology, with an emphasis on flowers and fruits. (2) The genetic basis of diverse and transgressive traits in allopolyploids. (3) Manzanita diversity.

Teaching Interests Anything, I love to teach. I especially enjoy introductory classes and classes on organismal diversity. My goal is to get mystudents (at least a few) to see plants and to understand how they solve the same problems that animals solve in totally different ways. Teaching plant systematics last year was probably the most fun I have had in my life and I can’t wait to do it again this spring. I also love and value the mentoring I do of graduate and undergraduate students working in our lab; the one-on-one interactions allow me to see them grow into critically-thinking independent researchers.

Honors/Awards 2003 Brown Postdoctoral Fellowship, Yale University 1999-2000 Anderson Postdoctoral Fellowship, Yale University 1996 Fund for Neotropical Plant Studies Award 1996 Lawrence Memorial Award 1994-1996 Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Fellowship in Molecular Systematics, NY Botanical Garden 1994 American Society for Plant Taxonomy Research Award 1993 Lawrence/Conoco/DuPont Award, NY Botanical Garden 1992-1996 Herbarium Fellow, NY Botanical Garden

BSA Service Secretary/Treasurer, Development and Structure Section; Treasurer, BSA; Chair, Development and Structure Section; Program Director, BSA

Other Service (past 5 years) UCR representative to the Riverside Citizen Science Partnership; Editor of Plant and Microbial Evolution unit, Elsevier Encyclopedia of Evolution; Mentor to 3 Riverside public high school students for their science fair projects; Program Officer, National Science Foundation (Plant, Fungal, and Microbial Development and Evolution of Development); Associate Editor, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2007-2013); Associate Editor, Frontiers in Plant Biology; co-organizer, joint conference MOSS2012 and 3rd International Symposium on Bryophyte Systematics; reviewing for various journals and funding agencies, consultant for childrens' books and textbooks; organized two symposia