Dissertation Research

  


Spicebush Swallowtail sampling Mimulus on one of my plots
 


"Connecting Mating System and Demography in Mimulus ringens"
Co-advised by Alan Templeton & Tiffany Knight

            Invasive plants may indirectly affect the dynamics of native plant populations by altering important population properties, such as mating systems and the expression of inbreeding depression. By increasing the amount of inbreeding a population experiences or increasing the magnitude of inbreeding depression, invasive plants may reduce the population growth rates of native species more dramatically than by direct competition alone. How sensitive are plant populations to changes in their mating systems and expression of inbreeding depression? How do invasive species alter these properties?

            My research employs an integrative approach to address these questions using the native Mimulus ringens and the invasive Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife).  This work combines molecular studies examining the mating system, spatial genetic structure, and clonal diversity of a population of M. ringens with controlled-cross experiments and demographic monitoring, in order to examine the sensitivity of population dynamics to changes in inbreeding depression, mating systems, and how competition with an invasive species alters these processes.
   
   
 

Curriculum Vitae

  


Tagged Mimulus as part of the monitoring portion of my dissertation

 


Mimulus ringens at one of my field sites
 

Professional Preparation:

Whitman College                                  Biology                                             B.A., 2002
Washington University                          Biology                                             Ph.D, 2003-present

Publications:

Submitted:
Ostman, O., Griffin, N.W., Strasburg, J.L., Brisson, J.A., Templeton, A.R., Knight, T.M., and J. M. Chase. 2006. Habitat area affects arthropod communities directly and indirectly through top predators. Submitted to Ecography

Synergistic Activities:

Washington University Young Scientist Program: As a member of the Evolution Teaching Team, I visit after-school science programs and high school classrooms to present hands-on activities in evolutionary biology to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Department Seminar: I coordinated a weekly seminar series in evolution and ecology including both student and invited speakers.

Collaborators:

Jennifer Brisson (University of California, Davis)
Jon Chase (Washington University)
Orjan Ostman (Uppsala University, Sweden)
Jared Strasburg (University of Indiana, Bloomington)
John Willis (Duke University)
Young Wha Lee (Duke University)

Ph.D Advisors:

Alan Templeton (Washington University)
Tiffany Knight (Washington University)

 
   
   
   
 

Contact Information

  


Measuring a male collared lizard in the Ozarks
 
 

Nick Griffin
Ph.D. candidate, Alan Templeton & Tiffany Knight (co-advisors)

Department of Biology
Washington University
Campus Box 1229
One Brookings Drive
Saint Louis, MO  63130

Phone: 314-935-6867
Fax: 314-935-4432
e-mail: nwgriffi *at* artsci.wustl.edu

 
   

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The Templeton Lab
Washington University in St. Louis

Last updated January 25, 2007
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