Phylogenomic methods for evolutionary mechanisms in free-living and parasitic plants

Liming Cai, Stengl-Wyer Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Integrative Biology at University of Texas at Austin

I am a systematic biologist broadly interested in the study of phylogenetics and evolutionary genomics. My research integrates fieldwork, museum/herbaria collections, and genomic analysis to characterize the patterns and drivers of biodiversity. I am trained as a botanist but I love thinking about insects as well.

​I am currently a Stengl-Wyer Postdoctoral Scholar at UT Austin. My current research is focused on the mito-nuclear co-evolution of parasitic plants. I am co-advised by Dr. Robert K Jansen and Dr. Justin C Havird. Before I came to UT, I did my PhD in the Davis Lab at Harvard University with lots of support from the Edwards Lab and the Pierce Lab. I also worked shortly on plant-insect interaction as a postdoc at UC Riverside during 2020-2021.  https://lmcai.weebly.com/