Bio

I am a Ph.D. student studying evolutionary ecology and biogeography in the Daru Lab. My research focuses on how species assemblages evolve and shift with changing environments across temporal and spatial scales. My current project integrates biogeographic analyses and phylogenetic data to understand the evolutionary and ecological forces shaping the biodiversity of the world's marine life.

In June 2023, I received a B.S. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution from UC San Diego, where I worked primarily with Professor Elsa Cleland, researching the demography of the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) and how its traits vary across different climates within the state. I also participated in two other labs, broadly investigating plant-pollinator interactions and plant genetics respectively. After graduating, I assisted the Green Biome Institute at CSU East Bay by collecting DNA samples of endangered California plant species, followed by work as a habitat restoration technician for Recon Environmental in the marshes around the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the Daru Lab, I am excited to investigate how marine species respond to environmental changes over varied timescales, with the ultimate goal of informing habitat restoration management and conserving biodiversity worldwide.

Education & Certifications

  • Bachelor of Science, University of California San Diego, Ecology, Behavior, Evolution (2023)

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Additional Info

All Publications

  • Can species adapt to drought using multiple strategies? Lessons from the California poppy. The New phytologist Schwab, S. T., Lam, K., Thornton, F., Brown, R., Kesler, J., Merow, C., Sexton, J. P., Cleland, E. E. 2026

    Abstract

    Plants can escape drought by completing life cycles early, tolerate drought by increasing physiological limits, or avoid drought stress by obtaining or using water more efficiently. It remains unclear whether strategies vary within species across their distributional ranges due to trade-offs, and whether species can exhibit plasticity in multiple traits simultaneously. We grew 19 populations of Eschscholzia californica collected along an aridity gradient in a glasshouse with high or low water, then applied a terminal drought treatment, and measured the responses of growth and functional traits. We found clinal variation in drought adaptation strategies; populations from arid sites exhibited escape phenotypes, while populations from mesic areas exhibited avoidance phenotypes. In response to low water, plants displayed plasticity in traits associated with both avoidance and tolerance strategies, and this plasticity was expressed consistently across populations. By contrast, specific root length (SRL) displayed clinal variation in plasticity; more arid sites had higher SRL (longer/thinner roots), and SRL increased the most in response to low water in the populations from arid sites. Our experiment demonstrates that frameworks developed to predict interspecific variation in drought adaptation strategies can also operate intraspecifically, with implications for wildflower conservation in the face of increasingly frequent droughts.

    View details for DOI 10.1111/nph.71105

    View details for PubMedID 41924989

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3470-0433