July Lunchtime Lecture: Into the Neotropics, Looking at the taxonomy and evolution of Agarista (Ericaceae)
“Into the Neotropics: looking at the taxonomy and evolution of Agarista (Ericaceae)”
A Hybrid Lecture from Claudenice Dalastra.
Agarista D.Don (Lyonieae, Vaccinioideae) is a little-known genus of subshrubs to trees in the blueberry family (Ericaceae), including 32 species classified into two sections (sect. Agauria and sect. Agarista). Agarista sect. Agauria comprises only one species, A. salicifolia, a variable and widely distributed species found in the western Indian Ocean and mountains of tropical Africa. Agarista sect. Agarista includes 31 species endemics to the Americas and its center of diversity is in the mountains of the Espinhaço Range in Southeastern Brazil. Claudenice Dalastra is a Ph.D. candidate who is working on a taxononomic revision of the genus, with an emphasis on species from the Neotropics. As a visiting Ph.D. researcher at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), Claudenice is working to complement her dissertation research by reviewing additional material from herbaria throughout the United States and also collecting detailed morphological and molecular data to her existing work. Her visit to BRIT is supported by a “Sanduiche” Fellowship from the Brazilian CNPq and while here she will be conducting integrative taxonomic research that incorporates comparative morphology and phylogenomics to understand the evolution of this genus. Her aim is to understand the morphological range of species, their evolutionary relationships, and how this species diversity has evolved in Neotropics.
This 1-hr seminar will include a short Q&A session after the lecture. The lecture will be held in-person at FWBG|BRIT in the Rose Room of the Garden Center and will also have a streaming option. To join us virtually please use the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87813077428.
About the Research Lecture Series
The BRIT Research Lecture Series is designed to create community wide conversation about a diverse range of important and rapidly developing topics. This series gives scientists and speakers a forum for sharing the most current information about their areas of expertise and allows the public to interact with leading members of the local, national, and international scientific community. Read more at brit.org/events/lecture-series.
July Lunchtime Lecture: Into the Neotropics, Looking at the taxonomy and evolution of Agarista (Ericaceae)
“Into the Neotropics: looking at the taxonomy and evolution of Agarista (Ericaceae)”
A Hybrid Lecture from Claudenice Dalastra.
Agarista D.Don (Lyonieae, Vaccinioideae) is a little-known genus of subshrubs to trees in the blueberry family (Ericaceae), including 32 species classified into two sections (sect. Agauria and sect. Agarista). Agarista sect. Agauria comprises only one species, A. salicifolia, a variable and widely distributed species found in the western Indian Ocean and mountains of tropical Africa. Agarista sect. Agarista includes 31 species endemics to the Americas and its center of diversity is in the mountains of the Espinhaço Range in Southeastern Brazil. Claudenice Dalastra is a Ph.D. candidate who is working on a taxononomic revision of the genus, with an emphasis on species from the Neotropics. As a visiting Ph.D. researcher at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), Claudenice is working to complement her dissertation research by reviewing additional material from herbaria throughout the United States and also collecting detailed morphological and molecular data to her existing work. Her visit to BRIT is supported by a “Sanduiche” Fellowship from the Brazilian CNPq and while here she will be conducting integrative taxonomic research that incorporates comparative morphology and phylogenomics to understand the evolution of this genus. Her aim is to understand the morphological range of species, their evolutionary relationships, and how this species diversity has evolved in Neotropics.
This 1-hr seminar will include a short Q&A session after the lecture. The lecture will be held in-person at FWBG|BRIT in the Rose Room of the Garden Center and will also have a streaming option. To join us virtually please use the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87813077428.
About the Research Lecture Series
The BRIT Research Lecture Series is designed to create community wide conversation about a diverse range of important and rapidly developing topics. This series gives scientists and speakers a forum for sharing the most current information about their areas of expertise and allows the public to interact with leading members of the local, national, and international scientific community. Read more at brit.org/events/lecture-series.