Systematics & Evolution Research Area

A Framework to Study Plant Evolution and Biogeography

The mission of Environmental & Plant Biology researchers is to employ independent sources of data (e.g., morphology of living and extinct organisms, DNA variation) to infer phylogenetic relationships and to use the phylogeny as a framework to study character evolution and biogeography.

Floyd Bartley Herbarium

Current Projects

• Systematics (including phylogenetic analysis), classification and evolution of the violet family (Ballard)
• Polyploid evolution and Infrageneric groups of Viola (Ballard)
• Species-level systematic studies in eastern North American violets (Ballard)
• Genome construction and the genetic basis of the mixed breeding system in violets (Ballard & Wyatt)
• Evolution of Cretaceous and Cenozoic aquatic ferns (Hermsen)
• Phylogenetic analyses including fossil taxa and identification of fossil calibrations (Hermsen)
• Systematics of Cretaceous and Cenozoic plants of Patagonia, Argentina (Hermsen)
• Systematics of Freshwater Red Algae (Vis)
• Comparative Transcriptomics for Systematic Research (Vis)
• Biogeography/Phylogeography of Freshwater Red Algae (Vis)

Resources for Researchers

Floyd Bartley Herbarium

The Floyd Bartley Herbarium, located on the fourth floor Porter Hall annex, is a specimen database of the taxonomy and flora projects conducted on the Ohio Flora.

Floyd Bartley Herbarium