LATEST NEWS

Awards & Grants

Awards & Grants: SSE Presidents' Award Winner: Dr. Maddie James

Contributed by kjm34 on May 27, 2022 - 07:40 PM

Headshot of Maddie James on a green background. Text: Maddie James. Phenotypic and genotypic parallel evolution in parapatric ecotypes of Senecio. Evolution (2021). Society for the Study of Evolution SSE Presidents' Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper in Evolution.


Congratulations to the 2022 winner of the SSE Presidents' Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper in EvolutionDr. Maddie E. James, for her paper, “Phenotypic and genotypic parallel evolution in parapatric ecotypes of Senecio.” Evolution (2021) 75-12: 3115–3131. 

In this paper, Dr. James and co-authors investigated potential parallel evolution in dune and headland ecotypes of the Australian wildflower Senecio lautus. A comparison of nine dune-headland pairs, most phylogenetic sister groups, found strong parallel evolution of phenotype of branch and leaf traits with dune plants tall and headland plants prostrate. Despite phenotypic similarity among populations within each ecotype, evolutionary change was found in different genes. However, further investigation found a number of these genes had the same predicted function. This study shows response to selection that leads to parallel phenotypes is more complex when viewed at the underlying genetic level. Dr. James earned her Ph.D. at the University of Queensland, where she is now a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. 


 
Back to top