The Life and Times of David Starr Jordan
The NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan
Cornell University Division of Biological Sciences
Indiana University Department of Biology
Loren Rieseberg
Loren Rieseberg was born in Lacombe, Alberta,
in 1961. However, before he was able to fully
develop his skills as a hockey player, his family
moved to Tennessee, where he received his B.A.
in 1981, from Southern College, and his M.S.
in 1984, from the University of Tennessee, both
with highest honors. His Ph.D. was awarded three
years later from Washington State University,
after which he immediately accepted a position
as an Assistant Professor at the Claremont Graduate
School and Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden
in Southern California. In 1993, Dr. Rieseberg
moved to Indiana University. He has the distinction
of being the first Biology faculty member at
Indiana University to receive an endowed professorship,
when in 1997 he was named the Class of 1954
Professor of Biology.
Over the past decade, Dr. Rieseberg's studies
of plant hybridization and speciation have redirected
research in these areas. He was among the first
to provide unambiguous evidence for widespread
interspecific gene flow in nature. However,
his work is probably best known for its pioneering
application of genome mapping tools to wild
populations and for its unique integration of
historical and experimental data. Experimental
replication of the birth of a new species through
hybridization, and genomic comparisons of the
artificial neospecies with an ancient hybrid
taxon, allowed him to dissect the genetic processes
accompanying hybrid speciation in unprecedented
detail. This mode of speciation was shown to
involve massive karyotypic change, to occur
with great speed (<60 generations), and to be
a more repeatable or deterministic process than
previously suspected. The final result has contributed
to an accumulating literature that points to
the importance of deterministic forces in shaping
evolutionary diversity.
Dr. Rieseberg's work, which is described in more than 100 publications, has also influenced the fields of systematic and conservation biology. His early recognition and critical reviews of the potentially confounding effects of hybridization on phylogenetic reconstruction have changed how phylogenetic studies are being performed and how the resulting trees are interpreted. Likewise, he was the first to demonstrate that rare plant populations can be endangered by genetic assimilation - now a frequent concern of conservation managers.
In addition to his work on hybridization, Dr. Rieseberg has made influential contributions to the area of plant reproductive system evolution. His group documented the first case of functional androdioecy in plants (male and hermaphrodite individuals in a breeding population) and demonstrated how this rare reproductive system in maintained despite the stringent evolutionary conditions it requires.
Dr. Rieseberg was the 1990 recipient of the George R. Cooley Award in Plant Systematics. He earned a Teaching Excellence Recognition Award last year from Indiana University. Dr. Rieseberg is an editor of the journal Molecular Ecology and associate editor of the American Journal of Botany and Plant Systematics and Evolution.
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Last Updated: 11 March 2003
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