معرفی
Charles C. Davis is a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Curator of Vascular Plants in the Harvard University Herbaria. He leads the Davis Lab, focusing on plant diversity through integrative research in systematics, paleobiology, ecology, and molecular biology. His work emphasizes phylogenetic theory, biogeography, and the application of herbarium collections to address global change challenges. Davis is particularly noted for leveraging herbarium specimens to study plant responses to climate change, phenology, and biodiversity patterns.
Research interests include plant-insect interactions, genome architecture evolution in parasitic plants, and the ethical use of herbarium specimens. His lab has pioneered high-throughput phylogenomic pipelines (e.g., PhyloHerb) and explored the future of herbaria in the digital age. Collaborations span global institutions, emphasizing digitization, spectral imaging, and AI-driven analysis of biodiversity data.
Recent work highlights the impact of anthropogenic change on plant communities, the role of phenology in species survival, and strategies to mitigate collecting biases in herbaria. Davis teaches courses on plant systematics and evolution, and his lab actively participates in public engagement through exhibits like the HMNH’s *In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers*.
His research has been featured in *Trends in Ecology & Evolution*, *Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution*, and *Current Biology*, with a focus on advancing methodologies for biodiversity science while addressing ethical challenges in specimen sampling.
