Faculty Profile

J. Dan Skean, Jr. Professor of Biology B.S., Western Kentucky University, 1980; M.S., North Carolina State University, 1982; Ph.D., University of Florida, 1989. Appointed: 1988

Expertise Areas: plant systematics, Melastomataceae, floristics

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Current Courses:

Biology 195: Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Biology 216: Vascular Plants

LA101: Plants and Human Affairs

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Research Interests: Dr. Dan Skean is interested in the systematics of angiosperms, i.e., the classification and evolutionary relationships of flowering plants, especially those belonging to the family Melastomataceae. Skean has conducted floristic inventories in the southeastern United States and West Indies, and has current research projects in southern Michigan and on the island of Hispaniola. Skean's research involves data from many sources--morphology, anatomy, and field ecological studies, which are used in computer-assisted phenetic and cladistic analyses to estimate phylogeny, i.e., evolutionary history. Presently Skean is studying the systematics of the genus Calycogonium DC. Incorporating data from diverse approaches, Skean's research makes many different undergraduate projects possible.

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