Dr. John Nason

Associate Professor Department of Ecology, Evolution,                and Organismal Biology 339 Bessey Hall Ames, Iowa, 50011 Phone: (515) 294-2268 Email: jnason@iastate.edu

General research interests

Research in my lab addresses both pattern and process in the evolution of plants and their associated insect herbivores and pollinators. From a population genetic standpoint, “pattern” includes the organization or structuring of molecular genetic variation within and among individuals, populations, and species. Because this genetic structure is itself an evolving character, it reflects the signatures of different evolutionary forces and histories. Inferring the relative importance of these forces can be problematic when explanatory hypotheses are generated post hoc from the genetic evidence alone. As a result, in our work we combine genetic data analysis with a sound knowledge of a species’ natural history, and, when appropriate, hypotheses generated from historical biogeographical data. This integrative approach often provides more insightful and statistically rigorous means of inferring evolutionary “process” than do purely ecological or genetic methods alone.

A unifying theme in my research is the use of molecular data to infer the role of gene flow (or lack thereof) in structuring genetic variation over a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. This theme is exemplified most of the research projects underway in my lab.

Population genetics

• Conservation genetics
• Paternity analysis and pollen gene flow
• The evolution of fine-scale spatial genetic structure
• Graph theoretic methods for the analysis of genetic structure

Plant-insect interactions

• Co-phylogeography of coevolving Sonoran Desert plants and insects
• Why are there so many plant-feeding insects and insect parasitoids?

Overviews of primary research projects in the lab

• Co-phylogeography and symmetry of gene flow of plant-insect interactions
• Morphologically cryptic host race formation in plant-feeding insects
• Morphologically cryptic diversification of pollinating and parasitic fig wasps

Publications

• Here's a list of my pubs