Genevieve Croft

Ph.D. Candidate
Evolution, Ecology, and Population Biology Program - Washington University

Curriculum Vitae
croft[at]wustl.edu

A range of experiences have shaped my approach to the study of ecology and evolution, among most important being two years in the Peace Corps, spent in a small farming village in central Panama. During this time, I observed the interdependence between people and many plants, the urgency of conservation, and the importance of communication with local communities during conservation planning.

For my dissertation research, I will use an agricultural species I first came to know in Panama to explore a variety of concepts in evolution and ecology.

Thesis Research

"Phylogeography and Cultivation History of Byrsonima crassifolia (L.) Kunth

Byrsonima crassifolia (Malpighiaceae), locally known as "nance," "nanche," and "murici," among others, is a Neotropical fruit tree distributed from Mexico to Brazil. It is cultivated in home gardens and collected from wild populations for local sale and consumption throughout much of Central and South America. For my dissertation, I will explore the phylogeography and cultivation history of this species. I have made field collections in portions of the species range, and will use genetic and geographic data to learn more about the early stages of domestication.

Graduate Rotation Projects

"Molecular Phylogeny of Claytonia ozarkensis"
With Barbara Schaal and George Yatskievych

Claytonia ozarkensis (Portulacaceae) is a recently described spring ephemeral found only in the Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma Ozarks. During my research rotation in the Schaal lab, I collected samples from the field and have sequenced them in the lab. In this ongoing project, we hope to determine the relationship between C. ozarkensis and its close relatives.

"Optimizing microsatellite loci for Crotaphytus collaris collaris"
With Alan Templeton and Jennifer Neuwald

In the fall of 2006, I worked to optimized microsatellite loci for Alan Templeton's long-term population genetics study of a group of Eastern collared lizard populations post-fragmentation.

"Morphological and demographic change in a founder population of the eastern collared lizard"
With Alan Templeton

In the spring of 2007, I continued to work on the collared lizards project, this time analyzing six years of data following a founder event. Collared lizards had gone extinct due to fire suppression and loss of glade habitat in the Peck Ranch Conservation Area in southeastern Missouri. In the 1980s, several hand-picked individuals were released on Stegall Mountain following the reinstitution of a fire regime. As the area of controlled burns increased, glade habitat on nearby Thorny Mountain opened up, and several individuals were discovered there in 2001, where none had been before. I looked at morphological and demographic data collected on Stegall and Thorny individuals in the years following this event to see if any changes could be detected. We hypothesized that the low population size that has resulted in neutral allele frequency differences between the two mountains could also affect phenotype as measured by size characteristics. In addition, altered demographic pressures in the new region could impact hatchling sex ratios.