Past Projects
Are transitions in pollinator syndrome from bee to bird always caused by changes to the same gene?
In the genus Penstemon, many parallel shifts from bee to hummingbird only pollination have occurred, and the change in flower color from blue to pink/red has been documented to repeatedly involve changes in one anthocyanin pathway gene. I investigated the genetic basis for a shift from blue to pink flower color in the species pair Penstemon newberryi and P. davidsonii.
Do parallel phenotypic changes usually involve parallel genetic changes?
My work as a lab technician with Dr. Arielle Cooley at Whitman College, involved confirming the genetic basis for purple flower color in Mimulus luteus var. variegatus in order to understand more broadly the genes involved in parallel gains in purple flower color in multiple species of South American Mimulus.
Did the loss of flower color contribute to the speciation of two sister Delphinium species?
Two recently diverged species, Delphinium nuttallii and Delphinium leucophaeum, are thought to have diverged due to adaptation to different abiotic environments, even though one of the most prominent morphological differences between the two species is the transition in flower color from the classic Delphinium blue to almost entirely white. For my undergraduate thesis at Reed College, I worked with Dr. Keith Karoly to 1) understand whether each species is specially adapted to certain ecological niches, and 2) the genetic basis for the flower color transition from blue to white.
Kimmy Stanton 