- Department of Plant Sciences
Daniel Potter studies angiosperm systematics, i.e., phylogeny and classification and of flowering plants. Students in his lab seek to document diversity and investigate diversification in flowering plants, especially horticultural crop plants and their wild relatives. They use phylogenetic analyses of molecular and morphological data, as well as phylogeographic and population genetic approaches, to address taxonomic and evolutionary questions, including human effects on plant evolution through processes such as cultivation, domestication, and dispersal to new areas. A related area of emphasis is ethnobotany, i.e., the study of plant-people interactions, including direct human uses, management, and perceptions of culturally significant plants.