Ruth Shaw

It has been known for about 40 years that natural populations harbor considerable genetic variability. However, understanding of the processes that generate and maintain genetic variation has been limited. Moreover, the evolutionary consequences of this variation has been understood mainly in general terms. To address these fundamental issues in evolutionary genetics, I employ quantitative genetic approaches in studies of natural and experimentally generated plant populations. Currently, my focus is on the evolutionary consequences of severe and abrupt framentation of prairie plant populations of Echinacea angustifolia. In the course of this research, I have participated in development of a new statistical approach for analysis of life history data to obtain estimates of fitness, fitness surfaces and population growth rates (http://www.stat.umn.edu/geyer/aster/). Beyond this, graduate students I have recently advised have assessed the potential of native plants to adapt to ongoing climate change, the evolutionary consequences of gene flow from a crop to its wild relatives, and evolutionary change in introduced species. In support of these and related projects, I have worked on statistical problems in quantitative genetics. This has led to development of Quercus, a collection of computer programs for analysis of quantitative genetic experiments. I actively participate in the University's Center for Community Genetics, a group of graduate students, postdocs and faculty with mutual interests in the interplay of ecology and genetics in the evolution of interacting species.

Ph.D., Duke University, 1983