2012 News

Dr. Rachel Jabaily, assistant professor of biology, has been award a three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for her research on the evolutionary history of the Australian plant family Goodeniaceae. This grant includes funds for a postdoctoral fellow and support for undergraduate student field work in Australia. Funding begins May 2013.

The title of her work is “RUI: Phylogenetics and Floral Symmetry Development of the Core Goodeniaceae,” and the project is shared with collaborator Dr. Dianella Howarth at St. John’s University-Queens.

An evolutionary biologist, Jabaily says the importance of her research is using DNA sequences to understand the evolutionary relationships between plants in Australia, a global hotspot of diversity, as well as studying the interaction of pollinators with the shape of flowers.

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