Angela McDonnell

Angela McDonnell is a faculty member in the Department of Biology at St. Cloud State University’s College of Science and Engineering. Her research focuses on plant phylogenomics and evolutionary biology, with a particular emphasis on the large flowering plant genus Solanum.

Research Interests:

• Disentangling complex phylogenetic histories using high-throughput genomic data.
• Understanding the role of incomplete lineage sorting and rapid diversification in producing polytomies.
• Integrating nuclear and plastid datasets to illuminate evolutionary relationships within Solanaceae.

Her 2022 article in American Journal of Botany exemplifies these interests, combining dense taxon sampling with multi-locus sequence data and cutting-edge target-capture techniques to test backbone resolution in Solanum. The study highlighted pervasive gene-tree conflicts and identified three major polytomies that likely stem from ancient, rapid radiations.

Collaborations & Data: The work was performed in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, Université Paris-Saclay, and multiple institutions in Brazil and Finland, leveraging both Sanger and next-generation sequencing technologies.