Spatial uncertainty in herbarium data: simulated displacement but not error distance alters estimates of phenological sensitivity to climate in a widespread California wildflower

Congratulations to Lisa and Devin, both of whom have just been awarded Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Awards to explore the process and outcome of natural selection within and among populations of Nemophila menziesii (Baby Blue Eyes: Boraginaceae) in four UC Natural Researves.  The titles of their research projects are:

Lisa Kim: "Does seed size evolve? A quantitative genetic analysis of the heritability of seed mass and selection in a California-native annual "

Another Streptanthus paper hits the press!  Congratulations, Natalie Love for shepherding another herbarium-based study of the effects of climatic variation -- and climate change -- on the flowering phenology of an iconic California species, Streptanthus tortuosus.  Check it out at:  this link

We've just returned from the 2019 Graduate Student Symposium of the California Botanical Society, held at California State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), where Natalie Love and Kris Peach delivered super-engaging talks about their dissertation research. 

Kris Peach reported the results just published in the American Journal of Botany:

Peach, K., and S. J. Mazer. 2019. Heteranthery in Clarkia: pollen performance of dimorphic anthers contradicts expectations. American Journal of Botany 106(4): 1–6.

Six undergraduates in the Mazer lab received prestigious awards from UCSB's Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities program to support their independent research during the 2018-2019 academic year.  The titles of their projects are:

Ivana Gomez: The effects of long-term vs. recent climatic conditions on the timing of flowering in Nemophila menziesii using electronic records and physical herbarium specimens

Kristen Peach was awarded joint grants from UCSB's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology and from Giga Science to attend a summer 2018 workshop in Front Royal, Virginia.  The 10-day workshop (August 19-30), "Recent Advances in Conservation Genetics", will cover methods, interpretation, and applications of molecular genetic analyses for the conservation of endangered species.  Congratulations, Kris!

Jasen Liu, a fourth-year undergraduate Biologist in the College of Creative Studies (CCS), has been selected as a 2018 Goldwater Scholar. The Goldwater Scholarship Program, one of the oldest and most prominent national scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics, recognizes students in their second or third year who have the potential to become leaders in research within their field.  He has been working in my lab since his freshman year, and is a co-author on a paper recently published in Evolution (Mazer et al., 2018). Read more about Jasen at:  https://www.ccs.ucsb.edu/news/2018/jasen-liu-third-year-ccs-biologist-named-goldwater-scholar