Author: Carlos

Original story published in EurekAlert!

Copyright © 2019 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Over 200 species of rare ginger relatives were recently acquired and established into cultivation by staff at the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Biodiversity Education and Research Greenhouses aka The UConn Rainforest.

This exceptional collection was made available to UConn by Dr. W. John Kress, Distinguished Scientist and Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution, who has conducted “over forty years of tropical field research and plant collecting across the globe” and is one of the world’s foremost experts on this plant group.

Dr. Carlos Garcia-Robledo, former Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow in Kress’ lab and currently an assistant professor at the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology – UConn initiated the contact between institutions to acquire this unique plant collection. Garcia-Robledo noted: “this is one of the most outstanding collection of living plants in the world. When John told me that he wanted to share his collection with UConn, I was ecstatic”

Mr. Clinton Morse, UConn’s Living Plant Collections Manager, orchestrated the acquisition of this collection over the summer months. “During my 25+ year tenure here at UConn I’ve had the good fortune to acquire a number of unique species from colleagues at the Smithsonian that helped to fill critical gaps in our collections. But the breadth of diversity and species rarity of this particular acquisition arguably make the UConn collection the most extensive living ginger collection outside of the tropics.”

The collection spans all 8 families of Zingiberales (a major order of charismatic plants that include bananas, gingers, cardamom, turmeric, birds of paradise and prayer plants) and includes over 2/3 of all currently recognized genera, many of which are rarely seen in cultivation.

A number of the species acquired are presently new to science and will be formally described, named and published in the near future by Kress and students at UConn.

The collection serves as a foundation for investigations by a number of UConn researchers as well as a repository of living material available to scientists at peer institutions. Garcia-Robledo notes “with the support of the National Science Foundation, National Geographic and Smithsonian, my research team uses Neotropical Zingiberales to understand the effects of global warming on biotic interactions. This collection represents a unique opportunity to answer new questions at a global scale.”

Plant species are becoming extinct at an unprecedented rate. Garcia-Robledo notes “In the last two and a half centuries, more plant species became extinct than bird, mammal and amphibian species combined”. The Zingiberales are also threatened by global environmental change, Kress notes “As their native habitats are irrevocably degraded and altered it is imperative to keep them alive and available for continued research.”

The laboratory of Interactions and Global Change –University of Connecticut is accepting applications from prospective PhD students interested in the study of ecological and evolutionary processes in plant-arthropod interactions and climate change. Successful candidates will join our team researching processes involved in the adaptation of organisms to novel environments from genetic, physiological and demographic perspectives.

How to apply

e-mail the PI – Carlos Garcia-Robledo (carlos.garcia-robledo@uconn.edu), a one-page letter of intent describing your research interests and a brief description of the type of research that you would like to pursue in grad. school. Please also include your CV and unofficial transcripts, and if already available, GRE (all students) – TOEFL (only international students) scores.

DESCRIPTION 

The Biological Sciences Program at Chapman University andthe Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) invite applications for the position of Postdoctoral Scholar under the direction of Professor Jennifer Funk and Associate Professor Kathleen Kay, funded by an NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity grant (“Biotic and abiotic drivers of Neotropical plant speciation”). The scholar will investigate divergent adaptation underlying speciation in the spiral gingers (monocot genus Costus). The project is a collaboration among PIs Kathleen Kay (UCSC), Jennifer Funk (Chapman University), Carlos Garcia-Robledo(University of Connecticut), Dena Grossenbacher (Cal Poly SLO), and Santiago Ramirez (UC Davis) to uncover patterns and mechanisms of speciation in a recent, rapid plant radiation throughout Central and South America. We seek abroadly-trained, collaborative plant ecologist with expertise in demography and ecophysiology to spearhead multiple reciprocal transplants of sister species at four field sites in Costa Rica. Primary responsibilities include experimental design, coordinating and conducting data collection, managing and analyzingl arge datasets, mentoring field assistants and students, coordinating research collaborators, and contributing to the dissemination of results through manuscripts, presentations, public outreach, and government/agency reports. The ideal candidate will have experience relating plant physiology to abiotic and biotic environmental conditions and fitness, experience conducting field reciprocal transplants, experience with demographic population modeling, a strong interest in plant adaptation and speciation, and a track record of publishing in leading journals. The candidate must have a valid passport through 2022 and excellent logistical planning and time management skills. Ability to speak some Spanish is desirable. The scholar will spend the majority of their time in Costa Rica, with ample opportunities for lab visits ande xchanges in the US. More information on the Funk Lab can be found athttp://www1.chapman.edu/~jlfunk/, and more information on the Kay Lab can befound at https://kay.eeb.ucsc.edu/.

ACADEMIC TITLE

Postdoctoral Scholar 

SALARY

Minimum annual salary of $50,000, commensurate with qualifications and experience.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

•          Ph.D. or foreign equivalent in Biology or related field

•          A minimum of two years experience in plant ecology research.

POSITION AVAILABLE

August 1, 2019. Start date could be as late as December 1, 2019. Ph.D. must be in hand at time of the initial appointment.

MAXIMUM DURATION OF SERVICE IN A POSTDOCTORAL TITLE

Postdoctoral Scholar appointments are full-time; the initial appointment is for two years through Chapman University, with the possibility of reappointment for an additional year through UCSC. Reappointment will be contingent upon positive performance review and availability of funding. The total duration of an individual’s postdoctoral service may not exceed five years, including postdoctoral service at any institution. Under limited circumstances, an exception to this limit may be considered, not to exceed a sixth year.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Applications should be emailed to Jennifer Funk (jlfunk@chapman.edu). All documents and materials must be submitted as PDFs. Please refer to Position # xxx in all correspondence. Informal inquiries may be sent to Jennifer Funk (jlfunk@chapman.edu) or Kathleen Kay (kmkay@ucsc.edu).

Documents/Materials

• Cover letter describing past research experience and qualifications for this position (required)
• Current curriculum vitae (required)
• A list of three references that includes their contact information (required)
• Up to three copies of published manuscripts-submitted as separate pdfs (required)

RECRUITMENT PERIOD

Full consideration will be given to applications completed by June 30, 2019. Applications received after this date will be considered only if the position has not been filled. The position will remain open until filled, but not later than 12/31/19.

Chapman University is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive academic global community. The University is dedicated to enhancing diversity and inclusion in all aspects of recruitment and employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. The University is committed to achieving a diverse faculty and staff and encourages members of underrepresented groups to apply. More information on diversity and inclusion at Chapman can be found at http://www.chapman.edu/diversity/.

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This year, our laboratory and collaborators prepared a stand for the Environmental fair (Feria Ambiental) at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. During this open house, neighbors from around La Selva and beyond come to take a look at the research happening in the station.

Gabriel Huertas and Reyder Mesén  (Parabiologists running our lab at La Selva) showed some our results on the demographic and genetic responses of arthropods to global warming. Laura Bizzarri (Graduate student, University of Connecticut) talked about her results on the exciting interactions between hummingbirds, Zingiberales and other hummingbird-pollinated  plants, and mites hitchhiking on hummingbird beaks. Miguel Chavez (University of Missouri St. Louis) is becoming an expert on chemical ecology in Zingiberales, and its role structuring insect herbivore communities.

Please take a look at our last article for the general public on the LeafSnap Project – using data collected by citizen scientists to track distributions of native and exotic plants. Although LeafSnap was designed to identify trees in the Northeastern United States, citizen scientists are aiming to identify plants all over the world using this mobile app.

We were amazed by the immense number LeafSnap users all over the world. There is no doubt that a global LeafSnap app to identify every single species of plant on earth will be a great success.

Or even better… can you imagine having in your cell phone “LifeSnap“, an app that can identify all life on earth? Shape recognition, artificial neural networks and other deep learning technologies will make this possible in the near future.

The article is hot off “The Plant Press“, the newsletter of the Department of Botany – Smithsonian Institution. You can click on the image to read the full issue. We want to thank The Plant Press Editor, Gary Krupnick !

 

 

We had a productive first meeting for our starting NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity project “Biotic and abiotic drivers of Neotropical plant speciation”. This project, led by Kathleen Kay (UC-Santa Cruz), focuses on spiral gingers in the monocot genus Costus in Costa Rica and Panama. We will test different hypotheses on how biotic and abiotic interactions create and maintain diversity in the tropics. Our laboratory  at UCONN will focus on many fascinating antagonistic plant-arthropod interactions affecting plant and insect fitness.

Our lab is so proud to join this dream team of researchers, postdocs and graduate students working on many topics from plant physiology to chemical ecology, animal interactions, phylogenetics and beyond. Next time we see each other, it will be in the jungles of Central America!

 

 

Team Costus brainstorming session – connecting demography, phylogenetics,  plant physiology, plant chemistry, biotic and abiotic interactions  to disentangle the processes maintaining biodiversity in the tropics.

 

 

Congratulations to Sarah Hurley, who just graduated from our lab! Sarah was instrumental in the development of our T.A.R.D.I.S. project and now she is helping us to disentangle the taxonomy of cryptic rolled-leaf beetle species.

We received the good news that together with our collaborator W. John Kress (Botany – Smithsonian Institution), our laboratory was awarded one of the Smithsonian Institution DNA Barcode Network Awards.

This award will support ongoing projects in collaboration with Terry L. Erwin (Entomology – Smithsonian). In these projects, we developed molecular methods to detect biotic interactions. For example, using molecular methods we can identify diets by extracting DNA from insect gut contents, match immature stages with adult insects or discover which species of mites hitchhike on each species of beetles in a tropical mountain.

 

Check our last publication in Bioscience: Citizen Science and Climate Change: Mapping the Range Expansions of Native and Exotic Plants with the Mobile App Leafsnap

You can use your phone to track exotic plants or changes in range distributions of native plans using the app LeafSnap!

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biy019/4933917

We are thrilled to hear the good news that Laura Bizzarri was awarded a National Geographic research award. This grant will support Laura’s research on hummingbird-hummingbird mite interactions in Costa Rica.

Congratulations to National Geographic Emerging Explorer -Laura Bizzarri!