Charles Davis
- Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
- Assistant Curator of Vascular Plants
- Davis Lab
- Contact
- OEB Faculty page
Our research on plant diversity integrates the disciplines of systematics,
paleobiology, evolution, ecology, and molecular biology. One major theme that unites
these disciplines is phylogenetic theory, which we apply to reconstruct the history of
plant diversity through evolutionary time. Biogeography, biome evolution, plant-insect
interactions, and horizontal gene transfer are some of the focal points of our work
in this area. Our recent projects have sought to understand the origins of intercontinental
disjunctions, the age of modern tropical rain forest, the maintenance of morphological
stasis in the tree of life, and mechanisms for horizontal gene transfer. This research
combines fieldwork with specimen-based studies in the herbarium and molecular approaches
in the lab. Broader interests of our lab also include monographic and floristic study.