[Taxacom] Graduate Position: Evolution of Flower Diversity

[Yaowu Yuan]

Please distribute:

Ph.D. positions in Genetics, Development, and Evolution of Flower Diversification at the University of Connecticut
Adviser: Yao-Wu Yuan

The monkeyflower lab at the University of Connecticut (http://monkeyflower.uconn.edu/) seeks creative and motivated PhD students to join us in the Fall of 2016. Our group is interested in how and why organisms evolve so many beautiful forms in nature. We study flower diversification as a representation of the general problem of phenotypic evolution. We have developed a wealth of genetic and genomic resources and functional tools in a classical ecological and evolutionary model system, monkeyflowers (Mimulus), so that we can integrate hard-core genetics, developmental biology, and evolutionary ecology to actually address this problem.

Ongoing projects in the lab include: (1) Regulation of carotenoid pigmentation in flowers; (2) Molecular mechanisms of pattern formation: How to “spot” a flower? (3) Genetic bases of adaptive peak shift: Parallel switches between purple/pink and yellow flowers that are pollinated by bees; (4) Genetics of pollinator-mediated speciation; (5) Developmental genetics of corolla tube formation and elaboration. New students can either join the ongoing projects or develop their own projects related to our research interests, or do a combination of both (e.g. join an ongoing project in the first year or so while developing their own ideas). Backgrounds in one or more of the following areas are desired (but not required): genetics, genomics, developmental biology, evolution, plant-pollinator interactions, plant systematics, or computer modeling of biological processes. However, a passion for plants is necessary. 

Financial support for Ph.D. students in our EEB department is available from research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and university fellowships. Interested candidates should send an email describing their motivation and research interests along with a CV to Yaowu Yuan (yaowu.yuan at uconn.edu).


*About the University of Connecticut*

The University of Connecticut (UConn) has been one of the nation’s leading public institutions since its founding in 1881. Located in Storrs, UConn’s main campus is situated in the picturesque rolling forests and fields quintessential of New England, yet is only 30 minutes from Hartford, and has close connections to Providence, Boston and New York City. The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology consists of over 30 faculty and 60 graduate students with research spanning nearly all major groups of organisms. The Department maintains close ties with the Departments of Molecular and Cell Biology, Physiology and Neurobiology, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Animal Science, Marine Sciences, and the Institute for Systems Genomics, which together comprise one of the largest groups of biologists in the Northeast.

Yaowu Yuan
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269-3043, U.S.A.
Tel: 860-486-3469
http://monkeyflower.uconn.edu/