Chris Muir

Chris Muir

Assistant Professor

University of Wisconsin

About the Quantitative Evolutionary Physiology Lab

My lab is located in the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. We study how plants work and why they evolved to work that way using a combination of experimental, comparative, and quantitative approaches. Please check out the Research page for more information on current research. If these types of questions interest you, please contact me about working together!

Interests

  • Evolutionary Physiology
  • Adaptation
  • Biostatistics

Education

  • PhD in Evolutionary Biology, 2013

    Indiana University

  • BS in Biology, 2006

    College of William & Mary

Join us!

Come study plant evolution and ecophysiology at the University of Wisconsin!

I am recruiting PhD students to join beginning Fall 2024. Please get in touch to find out more!

Potential projects should address the adaptive significance of various traits using plants as model systems. Approaches include, but are not limited to:

  • Developing adaptive hypotheses using optimality modeling
  • Testing the generality of adaptation using phylogenetic comparative methods
  • Test adaptive hypotheses using lab and/or field experiments

Explore research and publications to find out more about past and ongoing research visit. Please email me ( cdmuir@wisc.edu) to discuss your interests.

Recent Publications

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Selection on early survival does not explain germination rate clines in Mimulus cardinalis (Phrymaceae)

Many traits covary with environmental gradients to form phenotypic clines. While local adaptation to the environment can generate …

Technical comment on 'Negative-assortative mating for color in wolves'

Hedrick et al (2016) reported on ’negative-assortative mating for color in wolves’ from Yellowstone National Park, the …

The acquisitive–conservative axis of leaf trait variation emerges even in homogeneous environments

The acquisitive–conservative axis of plant ecological strategies results in a pattern of leaf trait covariation that captures the …

Recent Posts

Aloha Luke!

Luke Sparreo heads back to Connecticut after a semester in Hawaiʻi

Welcome Brandon!

Brandon Najarian is a summer research assistant

Welcome Max!

Max Gatlin is new technician studying how pathogens colonize leaves

Teaching

I am not currently teaching any course(s) this semester at the University of Wisconsin

Recent & Upcoming Talks

Genetic Variation in Ontogenetic Patterns in Leaf Anatomical Traits in a Long-Term Field Experiment

Ontogeny refers to the genetically regulated shifts in phenotypic traits across developmental phases. While ontogenetic variation is …

Finding genes responsible for evolution of complex 3D leaf anatomy using tomographic microscopy

Traits in wild relatives of crop species can help breed sustainable crop varieties that produce more food with fewer resources. To make …

Eons of pore decisions: how selection shapes the stomatal morphospace

The paleontologist David Raup introduced the concept of a morphospace, the theoretical limits on morphological variation among …

How will climate change affect the variance in fitness? An empirical test in the perennial herb Mimulus cardinalis

George Gilchrist’s fly lab at the College of William and Mary studied adaptation to climate on ecological time scales. Now a …

licorer: Software to read and process LI-COR photosynthesis data files in R

Measuring photosynthesis is important in a variety of fields, such as botany and agriculture, as there is much to be learned from it. …

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