People in the Miller Lab

Recent honors thesis students
	Ellen Leffler '06 joined the lab in Fall '05 after her semester abroad in Madagascar. Ellen investigated allelic diversity at the S-RNase locus in polyploid species of Lycium. Her lab work involved isolating the S-RNase gene from individuals of L. exsertum and then cloning to extract alleles from individual plants. Her thesis was titled "Ploidy level and self-incompatibility in five Lycium species (Solanaceae): evidence from the S-RNase locus". In it she compared molecular evolution of the S-RNase gene in various polyploid species to test the hypothesis that polyploidy disrupts incompatibility.
	Josh Shak '06 traveled to southern Africa with JSM and Rachel during July/August 2005. While abroad we collected Lycium with our South African colleague, Dr. Andor Venter. Josh used DNA sequence data from two gene regions (both chloroplast and nuclear) to reconstruct evolutionary relationships among Old World species of Lycium. He also tested hypotheses of hybrid species formation and dated the dispersal of Lycium to the Old World. We have a manuscript in press based on Josh's thesis work and he presented his thesis work at the at the Botany 2006 meeting in Chico, California.
	Min Wang '06 is studied the effects of architectural variation on sexual dimorphism in Sagittaria. Many Sagittaria species produce female flowers in basal whorls of inflorescences and male flowers in more distal positions. Min quantified differences in flower size/shape between female and male flowers and also for flowers at different floral positions within inflorescences. She determined the magnitude of architectural variation within inflorescences, the degree of sexual dimorphism after controlling for potential architectural variation, and documented between population variation in the degree of sexual dimorphism, architectural effects, and population-level sexual expression.

Former honors thesis students
	Jessica Blanton '06E graduated in Fall '05 with a BA in Biology. Jessica's thesis involved a study of evolutionary relationships among a group of ca. 20 species of extremely closely related species of American Lycium. Jessica developed a new gene region (nitrate reductase, NIA) for use in our phylogenetic studies, including the design and optimization of primers and the amplification, cloning and sequencing of this region. Her thesis was titled "Species level phylogenetics for an American clade Lycium (Solanaceae): exploring the utility of the genetic marker nitrate reductase"
	John Stanton-Geddes '04 graduated from Amherst College with a degree in Biology in Spring 2004. His research documented sexual systems and reproductive ecology of two species in the genus Lobelia (Campanulaceae). John's thesis was entitled "Breeding systems and reproductive ecology of Lobelia spicata and L. siphilitica in Massachusetts." Following graduation, John was a Naturalist at the Rancho El Chorro Outdoor School in San Luis Obispo, CA. He is rumored to have learned how to surf during this time. He plans to begin graduate studies in the department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior at the Univ. of Minnesota in Fall '06.
	Anna Savage '04 graduated from Amherst College with a degree in Biology in Spring 2004. Following graduation, Anna worked in the lab as a research assistant and expanded her thesis research on allelic variation at the gene controlling self-incompatibility (S-RNase locus) in Solanaceae. Anna's thesis was entitled "Molecular characterization of the S-locus in Lycium: Breakdown of gametophytic self-incompatibility and the evolution of gender dimorphism." She presented her work at the Evolution 2004 meeting in Fort Collins, Colorado. Anna began graduate school in Kelly Zamudio's lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Cornell University during the Fall of '05.