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CRUZAN LAB
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Welcome to the
​Cruzan Lab

We utilize ecological, molecular genetic, and numerical techniques in field and greenhouse studies to address questions in ecology and evolutionary biology.  Our research interests include evaluation of hybridization as an evolutionary stimulus, the evolutionary consequences of somatic mutation accumulation in plants, the evolutionary dynamics of invasion, and landscape genetics of upland prairie species in the context of range responses to climate change.  
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Projects and Useful Links
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News and Updates

We're  Accepting Graduate Applications for the Fall of 2023

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Recent Publications

Cruzan, M.B. 2022.Testing Wright’s Intermediate Population Size Hypothesis – When Genetic Drift is a Good Thing. bioRXiv
(https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.07.506960 )

​Cruzan, M.B., M.A. Streisfeld, and J.A. Schwoch. 2022. Phenotypic effects of somatic mutation accumulation during vegetative growth. Evolutionary Ecology 36: 767–785  (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-022-10188-3)

Cruzan, M.B., Thompson, P.G., Diaz, N.A, Hendrickson, E.C., Gerloff, K.R., Kline, K.A., Machiorlete, H.M., and Persinger, J.M. ​2021. Weak Coupling among Barrier Loci and Waves of Neutral and Adaptive Introgression Across an Expanding Hybrid Zone. Evolution 75: 3098-3114 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/evo.14381).

Cruzan, M.B. and E.C. Hendrickson. 2020. Landscape genetics in plants - challenges and opportunities. Plant Communications 1(6): 100100. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2020.100100)doi.org/10.1016/j

Grasty M.R., Thompson P.G., Pheil A.E., Hendrickson E.C., Cruzan M.B. 2020. Fine-scale habitat heterogeneity and vole runways influence seed dispersal in Plagiobothrus nothofulvys. American Journal of Botany 107:1-10. (https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajb2.1433)

Cruzan, M.B. 2019. How to Make a Weed–The Saga of the Slender False Brome Invasion in the North American West and Lessons for the Future. BioSceince 69:496-507. (https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz051)

Marchini, G.L., C.A. Maraist, and M.B. Cruzan. 2019. Functional trait divergence, not plasticity, determines the success of a newly invasive plant. Annals of Botany 123:667-679. (https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcy200)

Marchini, G.L., T.M. Arredondo, and M.B. Cruzan. 2018. Selective differentiation during the colonization and establishment of a newly invasive species. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 31:1689-1703. (https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13369).

Arredondo, T.M., G.L. Marchini, and M.B. Cruzan. 2018. Evidence for human-mediated range expansion and gene flow in an invasive grass. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 285: 20181125. (https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1125) 

Hendrickson, E.C., P.G. Thompson, and M.B. Cruzan. 2018. Density dependent pollination and germination in the patchy vernal pool species Lasthenia californica​. International Journal of Plant Sciences 179: 583-591  (https://doi.org/10.1086/697967)

Kohrn, B. F., J. M. Persinger, and M. B. Cruzan. 2017. An efficient pipeline to generate data for studies in plastid population genomics and phylogeography. Applications in Plant Sciences 5(11):1700053. (https://doi.org/10.3732/apps.1700053)

Cruzan, M.B., B.G. Weinstein, M.R. Grasty, B.F. Kohrn, E.C. Hendrickson, T.M. Arredondo, P.G. Thompson. 2016. 
Small unmanned aerial vehicles (micro-UAVs, drones) in plant ecology. Applications in Plant Sciences 4(9). (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/apps.1600041)
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Workman, R.E. and M.B. Cruzan. 2016. Mycelial networks impact competition in an invasive grass. American Journal of Botany 103:1041-1049. (https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1600142)

Marchini, M.L, N. Cole Sherlock, A.P. Ramakrishnan, D.M. Rosenthal, and M.B. Cruzan. 2016. Rapid purging of genetic load in a metapopulation and consequences for range expansion in an invasive plant. Biological Invasions 18:183-196. (doi:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-1001-5)
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Cruzan, M.B. and S.C.H. Barrett. 2016. Post-pollination discrimination between self- and outcross-pollen covaries with the mating system of a self-compatible flowering plant. American Journal of Botany 103:568-576.   (doi: https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1500139)
A Complete List of Publications can be Found Here
Current and past Lab Members
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Independent Research for Undergraduates

Research is the primary mechanism for the discovery and accumulation of new information.  Undergraduate students in our lab work with graduate students and the PI to develop their own project of original research.  Students conducting research attend weekly lab meetings and engage in lab activities.  Completed studies are published as parts of larger projects or completely on their own.  ​
Guide to Undergraduate Research

Graduate Research

Students interested in pursuing graduate research in the Cruzan Lab should contact the PI directly: cruzan@pdx.edu. 
Thinking about grad school?
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  • Home
  • Current Research
  • People
  • Undergraduate Research
  • Past Lab Members
  • Courses
  • Projects and Useful Links
  • Lab Fun
  • Lab Mascots