Faculty Profile
Sheila Lyons-Sobaski
Assistant Professor of Biology
B.S., 1989, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.S., 1994, Kansas State University
Ph.D., 2003, University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign.
Appointed: 2005
Expertise Areas: molecular ecology, conservation
biology, population genetics, gene flow in plants
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Current Courses:
Biology 195: Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity
Biology 237: Ecology
Biology 389: Population Genetics
Biology 389: Conservation Biology
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Research Interests:
Dr. Lyons-Sobaski is an ecologist whose
research utilizes both field and molecular genetic techniques to investigate
the ecology and evolution of plant populations. In particular, she is
interested in how gene flow maintains genetic variation within isolated
plant populations to better understand the ecological patterns and
evolutionary processes which structure them. Her dissertation research was a
comprehensive study of gene flow and its influence on the genetic
structuring of a regionally-endangered annual plant, Sabatia campestris
(Gentianaceae). This research was important because, at the level of an
individual, she empirically demonstrated the significance of the soil seed
bank in conserving genetic variation over time. In addition to studies of
local gene movement, she has explored regional genetic differences for S.
campestris by comparing peripheral populations, those located at the
edge of a species range, with centrally located populations where the
species is common.
Her current research plans include studying the
population genetics of Sabatia angularis which is state-threatened in
Michigan. Dr. Lyons-Sobaski is investigating the importance of
peripheral populations, populations at the edge of a species range, by
comparing the genetic variation of peripheral populations where the species
is rare with core populations where it is common.
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