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photo Barbara A. Whitlock

Assistant Professor
email
29  Cox Science Center, Dept. of Biology
1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33124
phone (305) 284-5412
fax (305) 284-3039
laboratory website

  
 
Education and professional experience
  • B.S., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1990, Botany and French.
  • M.S., University of Missouri, St. Louis, 1994, Biology.
  • Ph.D., Harvard University, 2000, Biology.
  • Darwin Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2000-2002.
Grants and Awards
  • NSF Pre-doctoral Fellowship, 1993 - 1996
  • Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research, 1995
  • American Society of Plant Taxonomists Grants for Graduate Student Research, 1995
  • M&M/Mars honorarium in support of field research, 1995
  • NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant, 1997
  • Organismic & Evolutionary Biology Dissertation Grant, Harvard University, 1998
  • NSF Graduate Research Training Grant Fellowship, 1996 - 1998
  • Organismic & Evolutionary Biology Student Travel Award, Harvard University, 1999
  • Graduate Student Council Travel Award, Harvard University, 1999
  • Darwin Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2000 - 2002
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Functional Genomics Travel Award, 2001
  • Summer Award in the Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Miami, 2003, 2006
  • University of Miami General Research Support Award, 2003
  • General Research Support Award, University of Miami:, $5000, 2006
  • NSF, $220,741, 2004 - 2006
  • Outstanding Biology Educator, University of Miami, 2005
Areas of Focus
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Tropical biology
  • Conservation and restoration biology
Research Interests
The primary goal of my research is to understand the origins of plant diversity.  I use phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data in combination with information from morphology, anatomy, ecology, and genetics to understand the timing and direction of changes in floral and vegetative traits, geographic distribution, and diversification rates. Current projects in my lab focus on three groups of flowering plants: chocolate and its relatives in the genus Theobroma; the Lasiopetaleae, a spectacular radiation of shrubs and trees in Australia that are closely related to Theobroma; and the fringed gentians, lovely wildflowers in the genus Gentianopsis.  My research has always had a strong field component. I have studied plants in Cameroon, Australia, many locations in South and Central America, and most recently in the western US and Florida.
Teaching Interests
I encourage students at all levels to explore and gain an appreciation of the diversity of life and the evolutionary processes underlying it.  At UM, I have taught Evolution and Biodiversity (Bil 160 and 382), Evolution (Bil 520), and Systematics (Bil 521).
Publications
  • Whitlock, B. A. and D. A. Baum.  1999.  Phylogenetic relationships of Theobroma and Herrania (Sterculiaceae) based on sequences of the nuclear gene Vicilin.  Systematic Botany 24: 128-138.
  • Baum, D. A., and B. A. Whitlock.  1999.  Plant Development: Genetic clues to petal evolution.  Current Biology 9: R255-R257.
  • Alverson, W. S., B. A. Whitlock, R. Nyffeler, C. Bayer and D. A. Baum.  1999.  Phylogeny of the core Malvales: Evidence from ndhF sequence data.  American Journal of Botany 86: 1474-1486.
  • Whitlock, B. A., C. Bayer and D. A. Baum.  2001.  Phylogenetic relationships and floral evolution of the Byttnerioideae (Sterculiaceae or Malvaceae s.l.) based on sequences of the chloroplast gene ndhF.  Systematic Botany 26: 420-437.
  • Qiu, Y.-L., J. Lee, B. A. Whitlock, F. Bernasconi-Quadroni, and O. Dombrovska.  2001. Testing the validity of Gymnosperms as an outgroup to Angiosperms using divergent sequences.  Molecular Biology and Evolution 18: 1745-1753.
  • Whitlock, B. A.  2001.  Malvales.  Encylopedia of Life Sciences. London: Nature Publishing Group.
  • Whitlock, B. A. K. G. Karol, and W. S. Alverson.  2003.  Chloroplast DNA sequences confirm the placement of Oceanopapaver within Corchorus (Grewioideae: (Malvaceae s.l., formerly Tiliaceae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 164: 35-41.
  • Nyffeler, R., C. Bayer, W. S. Alverson, A. Yen, B A. Whitlock, M. W. Chase, and D. A. Baum.  2005.  Phylogenetic analysis of the Malvadendrina clade (Malvaceae s.l.) based on plastid DNA sequences. Organisms, Diversity, and Evolution 2: 109-124.
  • Qiu, Y.-L., O. Dombrovska, J. Lee, L. Li, B. A. Whitlock, F. Bernasconi-Quadroni, J. S. Rest, C. C. Davis, T. Borsch, K. W. Hilu, S. Renner, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, M. J. Zanis, J. Cannone, R. Gutell, M. Powell, V. Savolainen, L. W. Chatrou, M. W. Chase.  2005.  Phylogenetic analyses of basal angiosperms based on nine plastid, mitochondrial and nuclear genes.  International Journal of Plant Sciences 166: 815-842.
  • Baum, D. A., S. D. Smith, A. Yen. W. S. Alverson, R. Nyffeler, B. A. Whitlock, R. L. Oldham.  2004.  Phylogenetic relationships of Malvatheca (Bombacoideae and Malvoideae; Malvaceae sensu lato) as inferred from plastid DNA sequences.  American Journal of Botany 91: 1863-1871.
  • Wilkins, C. F., and B. A. Whitlock.  2005.  A new species of Commersonia (Malvaceae s.l.) from the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.  Muelleria 22: 87-92.
 
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