Welcome to the Ashman Lab
Ashman Lab members - a community of scholar-educators
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Dr. Tia-Lynn Ashman
Distinguished Prof.
Dr. Nathlia Streher
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Ashman’s research program mines the interrelationship between ecology and evolution and focuses on plant biology. It spans scales of single interacting populations to diffuse interactions within whole communities, and from evolutionary genomics to ecological genetics. Current projects in her lab are based in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Mexico and China revolve around four major foci: 1) The contribution of polyploidy to functional and genomic biodiversity; 2) Ecological and evolutionary studies of separate sexes and sex chromosomes; and 3) The influence of biotic and abiotic features on plant-pollinator interactions, and their effects on phenotypic evolution. 4) The role of plant-pollinator interactions in plant coexistence in biodiverse areas and in the face of shifting species compositions (extinctions/invasions) and climate change; 5) Urban plant ecology and the importance of pollinator-mediated interactions to plant fitness and biodiversity; 6)Pollinators as viral vectors. Dr. Ashman is a UPitt Chancellor’s Distinguished Researcher, EO Wilson Awardee, Outstanding Mentor Awardee and has published over 175 research papers. She has served on the Editorial boards of The American Naturalist, Ecology, and New Phytologist, as well as Secretary and Executive Council member of American Society of Naturalists, and Society for the Study of Evolution. She is deeply committed to outreach and expanding diversity within science.
Veronica Iriart
Graduate Student
Vero is a 3rd year graduate student. She received her bachelor's from Wake Forest. She is exploring the effects of herbicide drift on plant, microbe and pollinator communities with and interest in eco-evo dynamics .
Dr. Streher received her PhD from University Campinas in Brazil. She is interested in pollination and biodiversity. In the lab she is working on whether polyploidy leads to pollination generalism using herbarium specimens.
Dr. Thomas Anneberg
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Anneberg received his PhD from Syracuse University where he studied the effects of whole-genome duplication, or polyploidy, on the nutritional needs of plants and how their biotic interactions with mutualistic fungi are affected, making predictions based on results of individual-level performance where these early generation polyploids should become established. However, since ecological establishment is a population-level process, Thomas is now conducting postdoctoral work on the importance of abiotic and biotic interactions on the establishment of polyploid populations in collaboration with the Turcotte lab.
Dr. Ben Lee
Postdoctoral Scholar
Elizabeth O'Neill
Technician
Liz graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2017 with a B.S. in Biology. She keeps us all from falling apart !
Ethan Richardson
Undergraduate
Ethan is a freshman Bio major. He is interested in plant genomics.
Lizzie Rarick
Undergraduate
Lizzie is a Biology major with minors in chemistry and studio arts. She is also a Golden Girl (majorette) in the University of Pittsburgh Varsity Marching Band and is an active member and business manager of the band’s service sorority Tau Beta Sigma.
Jason Simmons
Undergraduate
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Dr. Lee received his PhD from University of Michigan where he studied phenology. He is a NSF Postdoctoral Scholar with Dr Heberling at CMNH as well as being hosted by our lab.
Nevin Cullen
Graduate Student
Nevin is a 4th year graduate student. He received his bachelor's from Humboldt State University and his MS from SFSU. He is exploring the effect of metal accumulation on floral microbes and plant-pollinator interactions and speciation.
Hannah Assour
Graduate Student
Hannah 2nd year graduate student interested in invasion and urbanization. She is co-advised with Martin Turcotte.
Amber Stanley
Graduate Student
Amber is a 2nd year graduate student. She received her BS and MS from ETSU where she studied urban seed dispersal. She is exploring the effects of urbanization on plants and pollination networks.
Mikaela Moore
Undergraduate
Jason is studying Ecology and Evolution with an environmental concentration
Mikaela is a Biology major.