Investigator:
Sarah Federman
Advisor:
Michael Donoghue
Start Date:
November, 2012
Description:
I am interested in investigating the plant family Erythroxylaceae. Erythroxylaceae is a pantropical family of ca. 250 plants most notable for Erythroxylum coca, the leaves of which are used to produce cocaine. I believe that a better understanding of the current distributions and physiological tolerances of Erythroxylaceae will be important components in elucidating the evolutionary history of the family. I am particularly interested in investigating how historical biogeography and ancestral habitat may have informed the evolutionary history of tropane alkaloids in Erythroxylaceae and its sister group Rhizophoraceae, the mangroves.