I gave a keynote address on “Development and evolution of Volvox and related algae” at the Phycomorph Second Working Group Meeting in Limassol, Cyprus on September 30th. Phycomorph is a European research group concerned with macroalgal reproduction and development. I had a great time and learned a ton about development in brown, red, and ulvophyte green algae.
I primarily study various aspects of the evolutionary origins of multicellularity through a combination of experimental, theoretical, and comparative approaches. My main model systems are the volvocine algae (Volvox and kin) and their close unicellular relative, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
I am currently serving as a Program Director in the Evolutionary Processes Cluster in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology. Anything I post here or on social media reflects only my personal views and does not necessarily represent the views of my employer or the United States.
Kimberly Chen, a grad student in Greg Velicer’s lab, will be joining Team Chlamy as a NASA Astrobiology Institute postdoc at the end of summer. Kimberly’s PhD work involves small RNAs that control fruiting body development in myxobacteria, and she is broadly interested in questions related to social evolution (for example, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790314000049).
