The role of anthropogenic environmental change in driving evolution and eco-evolutionary feedbacks

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Humans are having an increasing impact on earth's environments and biodiversity. My research seeks to understand how these anthropogenic changes influence evolution, and whether this evolution affects ecological processes and patterns. In the next 5 years, my lab will address three research objectives: 1) Understand how global urbanization affects plant evolution 2) Determine the ability of plants to adapt to climatic variation in space and time 3) Assess how adaptation to urbanization and climate feeds back to affect multispecies communities and ecosystems  Objective 1 builds on the Global Urban Evolution project, a study I launched in 2018 to understand how global urbanization affects the evolution of white clover plants (Trifolium repens). Using whole genome sequence data from >2500 plants across 50 cities, we will determine how urbanization affects multiple evolutionary processes, including gene flow, genetic drift, and natural selection. We will also experimentally quantify the extent to which plants are adapted to urban environments. Finally, we will test how urban soil and air pollution influence mutation rates.  In Objective 2, we will conduct two large projects to understand whether populations adapt to ongoing climate change or climatic variation in a species' introduced range. For the first project, we have transplanted clover plants from across Europe and North America (NA) into experimental gardens in the north and south of both continents. This experiment will determine whether populations are adapted to their local climate and keeping pace with climate change. The second project examines the adaptation of clover to climatic variation in the species' introduced range. Using crosses between plants adapted to warm and cool climates of NA, we are examining how temperature, precipitation and herbivores interact to affect genome evolution.  Objective 3 will assess how adaptation to human driven environmental change influences communities and ecosystems. The first project will examine how adaptative divergence between urban and rural populations shape pollinator, herbivore and microbial communities. The second project will dissect whether adaption to climate feeds back to influence these same communities. IMPACT & TRAINING-These projects will represent major advances to understanding how anthropogenic environmental change shapes evolution, and how these changes further affect communities and ecosystems. Our results will have important implications for conservation, pest management, urban planning, and mitigating climate change. Trainees will play a central role in all research objectives. I will recruit and provide multidisciplinary training to 45 highly qualified personnel at all levels of study (PDF, PhD, MSc, BSc), including mentorship on obtaining careers in science. I will continue to create an inclusive environment and work to increase diversity in my lab and research community while promoting equity that helps individuals succeed.