Ian S. Gilman: Plant Physiology First Author
Ian S. Gilman, first author of “Gene co-expression reveals the modularity and integration of C4 and CAM in Portulaca”
Current Position: PhD Candidate, Dr. Erika Edwards Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University
Education: M.S., Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University; M.S., Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho; B.S., Physics, Bucknell University
Non-scientific Interests: Snowboarding, surfing, hockey, adventures with my dog Maggie
Brief bio: I began botanical research as an undergraduate with Dr. Chris Martine at Bucknell University, studying mating systems in Australian bush tomatoes. After a summer of field botany training with Dr. David Tank at the University of Idaho, I joined his lab for my M.S. thesis, which focused on the systematics of a rare group of hemiparasites (Chloropyron) throughout the Great Basin and Pacific Coast. There, a weekly meeting of evolutionary biologists at the One World Café instilled in me the importance of phylogeny throughout my research and thinking. My M.S. work was also guided by the work of Dr. Erika Edwards, who was placing decades of plant ecophysiology in an evolutionary context, which inspired me to apply to her lab for my PhD. As soon as I joined the Edwards Lab I was captivated by C4 and CAM photosynthesis, which allow plants to thrive in extreme environments, and the amazing plants that use them. My dissertation examines the evolution of C4 and CAM in multiple ways, including by measuring the effects of the environment over deep time, applying machine learning to predict physiology from anatomy, and using RNA-seq to probe the remarkable integration of C4 and CAM in the genus Portulaca.
