معرفی
Lauren Carley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago. She is establishing her research program with lab space renovations completed and planned for full operation in Fall 2024. Her academic journey began with a BA in Biology from Reed College (2012) followed by a PhD in Ecology from Duke University (2020).
Dr. Carley's research focuses on evolutionary ecology, specifically how natural selection shapes intraspecific variation in plant traits and how this variation influences species interactions, adaptation, population dynamics, and speciation. Her work frequently examines plant defensive chemistry in the context of environmental change. She employs field-based approaches, with recent summer 2024 fieldwork conducted at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) where she mapped nearly 5,000 plants across new research sites.
Analysis of her publication record reveals a strong emphasis on plant evolutionary ecology with particular attention to balancing selection, chemical defense polymorphisms, and adaptation to environmental change. Her research bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical field studies, often focusing on wildflower systems like Boechera stricta. The publications demonstrate increasing citation impact, with several papers receiving multiple citations in PubMed Central and social media platforms.
Dr. Carley is actively building her research group, having recently announced searches for a postdoctoral researcher and a shared lab manager/technician with the Kreiner lab. Her lab appears to focus on plant evolutionary ecology questions with connections to environmental change, as evidenced by her recent publications on aridity impacts and plant defense polymorphisms.
