• PBIO 103 (Plants and People)
• PBIO 309/509 (Plant Systematics)
• PBIO 475/575 (Plant Speciation and Evolution)
• PBIO 480/580 (Molecular Approaches in Plant Systematics, Ecology and Evolution)
• Global Studies in Plant Biology

• Global Studies in Plant Biology, Coordinator
• Curriculum Committee, Chair
• Promotion & Tenure Committee
• Herbarium Committee
• A&S Curriculum Committee

• Phylogenetic Systematics

The collective research in our lab encompasses many diverse aspects of plant organismal biology including traditional systematics, phylogenetics, molecular ecology, population ecology and conservation biology. Some of us also delve into more interdisciplinary investigations concerning speciation, and the molecular genetic basis of evolutionary mechanisms with collaborators. 

The element that unites most of our research efforts is the use of molecular evidence to answer organism- or lineage-level questions. For systematic and ecological questions we employ plastid and nuclear gene regions as sequences and PCR-RFLPs (PCR-based Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms); multilocus "anonymous" nuclear markers such as ISSRs (Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats) and AFLPs (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms); and nuclear microsatellites (for which we are developing a new method of extraction, with Sarah Wyatt's lab).

More recently (see our lab website) we have been collaborating with Dr. Kim Brown and Dr. Sarah Wyatt on broader, integrative evolutionary research. These new cross-disciplinary investigations are aimed at dissecting the molecular basis of ecological and phenotypic evolution and life history traits in violets. Two large research programs include the evolution of endemic Hawaiian violet species; and the molecular regulation and evolution of the mixed chasmogamous-cleistogamous breeding system. We are also collaborating on developing new inquiry-based laboratories for advanced course using wild-collected seed stocks of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Selected References (last three years)

• Peirson, J. A. , P. D. Cantino, and H. E. Ballard, Jr. 2005. A. taxonomic revision of Collinsia (Lamiaceae) based on phenetic analyses of morphological variation. Systematic Botany, in press.
• Ballard, H. E., Jr., D. S. Feller, and G. L. Nesom.  2005 ["2004"].  Cliff Cudweed at specific rank in Pseudognaphalium (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae).  Sida 21(2): 777-779.
• Rothwell, G., M. Van Atta, H. E. Ballard, Jr., and R. Stockey.  2004.  Molecular phylogenetic relationships among Lemnaceae and Araceae using the chloroplast trnL-F intergenic spacer.  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30: 378-385.
• Yockteng, R., H. E. Ballard, Jr., G. Mansion, I. Dajoz, and S. Nadot.  2004 [“2003”].  Phylogenetic relationships among pansies (Viola Section Melanium) investigated using Internal Transcribed Spacer DNA (ITS) sequences and Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers.  Plant Systematics and Evolution 241: 153-170.
• Munzinger, J. K. and H. E. Ballard, Jr.  2003.  Hekkingia (Violaceae), a new arborescent violet from French Guiana, with a key to genera in the family.  Systematic Botany 28:345-351.
• McCauley, R. A. and H. E. Ballard, Jr.  2003 [“2002”].  Genetic diversity and molecular phylogeography of peripheral and interior populations of Froelichia floridana s. l. (Amaranthaceae) inferred from Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs).  Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 129:311-325.

Last revised 30 August 2005