Selected Publications

Intraspecific diversity arises from genetic and plastic responses to the environment. Immense natural history collections allow comprehensive surveys of intraspecific diversity across a species range through centuries of environmental variation. Using 216 years of Arabidopsis thaliana samples, we tested if traits exhibit coordinated variation and hypothesized adaptive responses to climate gradients. We used spatially varying coefficient models to quantify region-specific trends. Traits generally showed little coordination. However, C:N was low for summer versus spring-collected plants, consistent with a life history-physiology axis from slow-growing winter annuals to fast-growing spring/summer annuals. Collection date was later in more recent years in many regions, possibly because these populations shifted toward more spring (as opposed to fall) germination. δ15N decreased over time across most of the range, consistent with predictions based on anthropogenic changes. Regional heterogeneity in phenotype trends indicates complex responses to spatial and temporal climate shifts potentially arising from variation in local adaptation and plasticity.
Global Change Biology, 2019
Preprint PDF Project DOI

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
March 2021 – Present

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Wyoming

 
 
 
 
 
August 2015 – December 2020

Graduate Assistant

Pennsylvania State University

Publications

Animal seed dispersers may influence plant genetic diversity, though there are few examples linking disperser behavior to population …
Preprint Project DOI

Host–parasite coevolution can maintain high levels of genetic diversity in traits involved in species interactions. In many systems, …
Preprint PDF DOI

Intraspecific diversity arises from genetic and plastic responses to the environment. Immense natural history collections allow …
Preprint PDF Project DOI

Background The presence of non-coding introns is a characteristic feature of most eukaryotic genes. While the size of the introns, …
PDF DOI

Skills

R

Statistics

Molecular Biology

Growing Plants

Recorded Talks

A talk given at Evolution 2019 about natural variation in Arabidopsis phenology.
Aug 6, 2019 12:00 AM Evolution 2019
Project Video

Projects

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All Intron Loss Herbarium Phenotypes Arabidopsis Phenology Pigeon Dispersal

Sparse Models

Competing sparse modeling methods.

Intron Loss

Tracking intron loss in ABCB1 across the grass phylogeny.

Frugivore Dispersal and Landscape Genetics

Identifying the influence of frugivore nesting behavior on tree population genetics.

Phenology

Comparing Arabidopsis phenology in the lab to herbarium collections.

Phenotypic Change in Herbaria Records

Modeling change in phenotype across time and space using Arabidopsis herbarium records.

Outreach

Making plant biology and ecology accessible and enjoyable for the wider public is an important goal of my work. Some of my outreach efforts:

  • Pennsylvania Summer Academy for the Blind STEM Extension Weekend
  • Discovery Space floor volunteer
  • A Knitted History of Plant Evolution

Teaching

I have served as a teaching assistant for the following courses at Penn State:

  • BIOL 110L: Basic Concepts and Biodiversity laboratory
  • BIOL 240W: Organismal Biology laboratory

Tags

Contact

  • vdeleo@uwyo.edu