Johanna Schmitt

Research Interests

My research examines how plants adapt to local environments and respond to climate change. This work integrates field experiments and controlled environmental manipulations with genomic and climate data to measure natural selection and search for the signature of local adaptation. Recently I have focused on the ecological and evolutionary role of “niche construction traits” controlling seasonal timing, both for climate adaptation within species and (with UCD colleagues) for diversification of the climate niche across a group of related California wildflowers. Our goal is to understand how these traits will evolve in the face of climate change, and the consequences for vulnerability of populations and species.

Center Affiliations

• Center for Population Biology

CBS Graduate Group Affiliations

• Plant Biology Graduate Group
• Population Biology Graduate Group