I am currently accepting new graduate students. Graduate students are encouraged to design their own research project in the field of ecological genetics. Most students conduct lab, greenhouse, and field work. Specific research focuses of the lab have included:

1. Studies of natural selection including patterns of selection as well as the genetic architecture of traits underlying adaptation.
2. Exploration of the evolutionary consequences of polyploidy. For example, do polyploids show enhanced rates of evolution? Is the genetic architecture of polyploid populations the same as diploid populations?
3. Investigation of plant response to the environment. Do patterns of phenotypic plasticity vary among populations? Is there a cost to plasticity? Do environmental maternal effects represent an environmental cueing between parent and offspring? To what extent do paternal environments influence offspring trait expression?
4. Studies of plant reproductive biology. Is inbreeding depression or outcrossing rate influenced by polyploidy? What influences pollinator movement, pollen deposition and ovule fertilization? Do patterns of sex allocation within flowers vary with the environment or flower age? Do "ugly" pollinators reduce male fitness?
5. Studies of the process of speciation. What patterns of population differentiation underlie reproductive isolation? To what extent does reproductive isolation involve nuclear genes, cytoplasmic genes or their interaction? Do patterns of speciation differ between diploids and polyploids?
6. Investigation of maternal effects. To what extent do parents exert non-Mendelian influences on the trait expression of their offspring? Is this though parental environments or parental trait expression? How do maternal effects influence patterns of evolution in natural populations?
7. Exploration of life history evolution. Are there trade-offs across generations? What environmental (or genetic conditions) result in a selection for annuals over biennials? Why should a plant make many small seeds or few large seeds?

This list is to give you a flavor of the interests of the lab. Most all topics relating to ecological genetics are fair game for study. Research may be on a study system of your choice but work on Campanulastrum americanum is also a possibility. I conduct my research at the Mountain Lake Biological Station located in southwest Virginia about 3 hours from UVA. The station has a long history of research in population biology and is the setting for a number ecological and evolutionary studies conducted by people from a range of institutions. In addition, UVA has two other field stations and there are a number of potential study sites near UVA.

If you are interested, please send me an e-mail (lgalloway@virginia.edu) letting me know your experiences and interests. Also, feel free to write any of the member of the lab for more information.

Further information on the graduate program in Biology at UVA see: http://www.virginia.edu/biology/grad/prospective.htm