Barbara Schaal

Barbara Schaal is a nationally recognized plant evolutionary biologist who uses DNA sequences to understand evolutionary processes such as gene flow, geographical differentiation, and the domestication of crop species.

Barbara Schaal was among the first plant scientists to use molecular biology-based approaches to understand evolutionary processes in plants, and she has worked to advance understanding of plant molecular systematics and population genetics. Most recently, her work has focused on the evolutionary genomics of rice.

Schaal has been president of the Botanical Society of America, the Society for the Study of Evolution, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and U.S. National Academy of Sciences, where she served as Vice President for 8 years. She was appointed as a U.S. science envoy by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Schaal has served as chair of the Division on Earth and Life Studies at the National Research Council and was a member of President Obama’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology from 2009–17. In 2019, she received the National Science Board’s Public Service Medal and joined the board of directors of the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation.

From 2013–20, Schaal served as dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences. As dean, she oversaw all academic, financial, and administration aspects of Arts & Sciences.

Selected Publications

Ge, X. J., M. H. Liu, W.K. Wang, B.A. Schaal, and T.Y. Chiang (2005) Population structure of wild bananas, Musa balbisiana, in China determined by SSR fingerprinting and cpDNA PCR-RFLP. Molecular Ecology 14:933-944.

Caicedo, A. and B. Schaal. (2005) Heterogeneous evolutionary processes affect R gene diversity in natural plant populations of Solanum pimpinellifolium. PNAS 101:17444-17449.

Schaal, B. and W. J. Leverich. (2005) Conservation Genetics: Theory and Practice. Ann. Mo. Bot. Garden 92: 1-11.

Miller, A. and B. Schaal. (2005) Domestication of a Mesoamerican cultivated fruit tree, Spondias purpurea. PNAS 102:12801-12806.

Chung, K-f, C-I Peng, S. Downie, K. Spalik, and B. Schaal. (2005) Molecular systematics of the trans-Pacific alpine genus Oreomyrrhis (Apiaceae): phylogenetic affinities and biogeographic implications. Amer. J. Bot. 92: 2054-2071.

Schaal, B. K. Olsen, L. Carvalho. (2006) Evolution, Domestication, and Agrobiodiversity in the tropical crop cassava. In Darwin’s Harvest, T. Motley, N. Zerega and H. Cross, editors, Columbia U. Press, pp 269-284.

Beck, J., I. Al-Shebaz and B. Schaal. (2006) Leavenworthia (Brassicaceae) revisited: Testing classic systematic and mating system hypotheses. Systematic Botany 31: 149-157.

Londo, J. Y-C Chiang, K-H Hung, T-Y Chiang, and B. Schaal. (2006) Phylogeography of Asian wild rice, Oryza rufipogon reveals multiple independent domestications of cultivated rice, Oryza sativa Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 103: 9578-9583.

Barbara Schaal

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Selected Publications

in the news:

Schaal elected to The American Philosophical Society

Schaal named to agricultural research foundation

Barbara Schaal to receive NSB Public Service Award