Erin M. Sigel

2003 B.S. Environmental Science, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH

2008 M.S. Botany, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT

2014 Ph.D. Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC

As an evolutionary biologist and plant systematist, I am interested in the patterns and processes that underlie plant diversification. More specifically, I am interested in the long and short term evolutionary consequences of whole genome duplications (i.e. polyploidization) and hybridization (i.e. reticulation). My research focuses primarily on the ferns, a plant lineage with an extensive history of both ancient and recent polyploidy and which presents many opportunities for investigating polyploid formation, persistence, and diversification. I combine diverse data types (biogeographic, cytological, morphological, and molecular) with state-of-the-art phylogenetic, comparative genomic, and transcriptomic methods to resolve relationships within polyploid species complexes, investigate genomic changes following polyploidization and hybridization, explore how these processes have influenced large-scale chromosomal changes, and examine patterns of plant diversification.

Starting in January 2017 the Sigel Lab will have openings for Postdoctoral Researchers, Graduate Students, and Undergraduate Students.

Please visit the Sigel Lab website to learn more.