Jennifer Gremer

Jennifer Gremer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on plant physiological ecology, population ecology, and life history evolution, with an emphasis on understanding how plants respond to environmental variability and climate change. She investigates topics such as germination strategies, phenological shifts, and evolutionary adaptation in desert and variable environments. Her work integrates field studies, genomic analyses, and ecological modeling to explore the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of plant populations.

Dr. Gremer’s research emphasizes the impacts of climate change on plant fitness and distribution, leveraging herbarium data and experimental approaches to predict species responses to altered precipitation regimes. She has pioneered studies on the role of prolonged dormancy and bet-hedging strategies in desert annuals, revealing how these mechanisms influence population persistence under environmental uncertainty. Her lab, based at Storer Hall, explores the interplay between functional traits, demographic processes, and evolutionary outcomes in changing climates.

Key areas of investigation include the ecological consequences of genomic duplication in plants, the predictive capacity of lived climate data for phenology, and the vulnerability of desert ecosystems to shifts in precipitation timing and intensity. Her findings contribute to conservation strategies for climate-sensitive species and improve understanding of adaptive mechanisms in fluctuating environments.