Steven J. Franks

Steven J. Franks is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Fordham University, located at Larkin Hall, Bronx, NY. His research focuses on plant evolutionary ecology, particularly contemporary evolutionary responses to climate change and dynamics of invasive species. He leads the Franks Lab, which employs the resurrection approach to study plant adaptation through comparisons of ancestral and modern genotypes. Key projects include investigating rapid evolutionary changes in Brassica rapa under drought conditions and studying genetic diversity in invasive species like Japanese knotweed.

Franks' work emphasizes the resurrection initiative (Project Baseline), a collaborative effort to preserve ancestral plant genotypes for studying real-time evolutionary processes. His lab also explores plant-soil interactions and invasive species success mechanisms. Despite the absence of explicitly listed educational details in the provided text, his CV and lab website likely detail his academic background. He is actively involved in mentoring postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates, though specific advisee names are not provided here.

Notable contributions include demonstrating rapid flowering-time evolution in response to multi-year droughts and revealing unexpected genetic diversity in invasive Japanese knotweed populations. His research bridges ecological and evolutionary perspectives to address pressing environmental challenges.