Best-known
for using molecular
genetics techniques
to study evolution
of plants, esp.
native species;
seminal contributions
to field of
population and
evolutionary
processes in
oaks, wildflowers,
native prairie
plants and other
plants.
Dr. Schaal
received her
B.S. from the
University of
Illinois at
Chicago in 1969
and her Ph.D
from Yale University
in 1974. She
was on the faculty
at the University
of Houston and
Ohio State University
before moving
to Washington
University in
1980. Schaal's
research interests
range from plant
population genetics
to macroevolution
and systematics.
Current studies
in her laboratory
include molecular
phylogeny reconstruction
in several plant
groups (Asclepias,
Moringa, Manihot,
Espeledia) using
nuclear and
chloroplast
DNA sequences.
Other work examines
the molecular
evolution of
resistance genes
and ribosomal
sequences in
Arabidopsis
and self-incompatibility
alleles in Lycopersicon.
Several studies
address issues
in conservation
biology, including
the loss of
genetic variation
in isolated
populations
(Pinus, Rudbeckia,
Clematis Oryza)
and origins
of the tropical
crop, cassava.
Schaal is currently
on the editorial
boards of Functional
Ecology, Molecular
Ecology and
Conservation
Genetics. She
serves as chair
of the Scientific
Advisory Council
of the Center
for Plant Conservation
and as a member
of the board
of trustees,
Missouri chapter
of the Nature
Conservancy.
She has served
as executive
vice president
of the Society
for the Study
of Evolution,
president of
the Botanical
Society of America
and chairman
of the department
of biology,
Washington University.
She is a fellow
of the American
Association
for the Advancement
of Science,
a John Simon
Guggenheim Fellow
and was elected
to the U.S.
National Academy
of Sciences
in 1999.
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