Research in the lab aims to understand the mechanisms behind the rapid speciation processes that produce high species richness in specific areas. Using islands as models, we combine taxonomy with an array of molecular techniques to study the factors driving speciation and characterize the morphological variation resulting from these processes. We also explore the uses of metabarcoding and environmental DNA to study plant-pollinator interactions.
News
- May - David Cyphers is joining the lab this May. He earned a BA in Education this Spring 2025, and will now pursue an MA in Biological Sciences. Welcome!
- April - Moses Shafer's first paper was published this month in Fire Ecology!!
- March - The lab went to the Association of Southeastern Biologists Annual Meeting in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! Pam and Rebecca gave talks, and Erica and Clara presented posters. All three students got travel awards from the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society and the Susan Weinstein Fund. Congratulations! Also, Erica, Noah, and Rebecca organized the Entomology Exam for the 2025 WV Science Olympiads!
- February - Pam was invited to talk about plants and pollinators at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.
- January - Erica Edinger presented her MS research at the WV Entomological Society Winter Meeting in Morgantown, WV.
- November - Clara was awarded the 2024-2025 Charlie Viers Scholarship ($1,000) and Noah was awarded the 2024-2025 Donald Cain Tarter Biological Sciences Student Research Scholarship ($900). Congratulations!
- October - Erica was selected to represent Marshall at the 2024 NSF EPSCoR National Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. She presented a poster on our current research on wild ramp's pollinators. Congratulations!
- August - Erica Edinger has started the Accelerated Master's Degree in Biological Sciences this Fall. And, we have new grad and undergrad students joining the lab, Noah Adkins will be working on long-horned bees phylogenetics for his MS, and Hind Jamal will be helping process specimens in the Herbarium as part of her capstone. Welcome!
- May- Abagail, Mary, and Moses finished their masters' degrees! Congratulations to our new masters!
- March - The lab went to the Association of Southeastern Biologists Annual Meeting in Chattanooga, Tennessee! Pam gave a talk, and Erica, Clara, and Anthony presented posters. All three students got travel awards from the Susan Weinstein Fund and Clara and Erica also got travel awards from the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society. Congratulations!
- February - Erica presented a poster at the Undergraduate Research Day at the WV Capitol this month! She talked about her work on identifying wild ramp pollinators using the COI barcode.
- January - Pam was invited to present her ramp research at the WV Entomological Society Winter Meeting in Ripley, WV.
Current research
Plants used by solitary beesWe are looking into the diversity of plant species used by a couple of solitary bees: the alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata) and long-horned bees (Melissodes trinodis and M. agilis).
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Micromeria (Lamiaceae) in the Canary IslandsThis project tries to understand the influence of the islands' geological history and inter-island colonization on the diversification of insular taxa using genus Micromeria (Lamiaceae) in the Canary Islands as an example.
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