Research interests
My research focuses on the genetic and ecological processes enabling plant populations to cope with global change. I am interested in the evolutionary forces that shape genetic and phenotypic variation in plants, such as gene flow and local adaptation. My research intersects evolutionary biology, plant ecology, and population genetics, using an interdisciplinary approach that combines genomics, field experimentation, high-performance computing, and integrative modeling. Specifically, my research program addresses (i) the effects of past climate change and contemporary global change on dispersal processes of plants and (ii) the evolutionary implications of geographic isolation (i.e., allopatry) for plant intraspecific differentiation.
In my current position at Michigan State University, I am working with Dr. John Robinson (MSU), Dr. Andria Dawson (Mt. Royal University), Dr. Sean Hoban (Morton Arboretum), Dr. Adam Smith (Missouri Botanical Garden), and Dr. Allan Strand (College of Charleston) on the NSF project “Collaborative Research: ABI Innovation: Quantifying biogeographic history: a novel model-based approach to integrating data from genes, fossils, specimens, and environments.” In this project, we are developing an integrative modeling approach based on Approximate Bayesian Computation able to integrate fossil pollen data, occurrence data, and ecological niche models, and population genetic data to infer demographic parameters, the location of glacial refugia, and the pace of post-glacial range movement of tree species.
Contact information
Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Department of Fisheries and Wildlife MSU Natural Resource Building room 13 Email: acastillaalva@gmail.com / casti209@msu.edu Phone: (517) 355-4478 |
