Research areas

Although a balanced sex ratio based on sex chromosomes is expected in spores after meiosis, S. caninervis is notable for its extremely strong sex ratio bias and low frequency of sexual reproduction.

Mosses and other biocrust organisms have evolved vegetative desiccation tolerance—the ability to equilibrate to dry air, pausing all metabolic activity until rehydration—making them an excellent model system for studying stress tolerance mechanisms.

Mosses and other biocrust organisms have evolved vegetative desiccation tolerance—the ability to equilibrate to dry air, pausing all metabolic activity until rehydration—making them an excellent model system for studying adaptation to the desiccating and irradiating conditions of terrestrial life.

An NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity Project; population genetics & phylogenetics of Syntrichia

In collaboration with non-profit Blueprint Earth, an assessment of the phylogenetic diversity of a unique region of the Mojave Desert