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So for those of you that I have not told already... This past Friday I was invited by a professor at UNC-Charlotte to come work on some research projects with him as a graduate school student. The goals of the project are 1) understanding natural genetic variation (including hybridization and speciation) of Sarracenia plants with genetic and genomic tools 2) Understanding genetic basis of ecological adaptation of sarracenia species; 3) plant and insect interaction. Basically, this means I would get to work on one of my favorite genera of plants for a masters degree. The professor then elaborated and said, assuming I do well with the masters program it is likely I will be able to stay on to get my doctorate. I have not committed to this idea 100% but it is by far my best option right now for when I graduate from NCSU in December. Just wanted to tell you all the good news!

My hope is that by the end of it I will have found genetic evidence to differentiate between all of the species and intraspecific varieties of Sarracenia. Basically, I want to put the whole S. rosea vs. S. purpurea thing, the S. rubra ssp. rubra vs ssp. gulfensis vs. ssp. alabamensis, vs. jonesii thing, and the purpurea ssp. purpurea vs. purpurea ssp. venosa to rest. I'm hoping it will work out something like this, as this is my current theory as to how Sarracenia taxonomy should be:

S. alata will likely be divided into further intraspecific varieties and possibly subspecies
S. flava will remain as it is including all the intraspecific varieties
S. leucophylla will remain as it is including all the intraspecific varieties
S. minor will remain as it is including all the intraspecific varieties
S. oreophila will remain as it is including all the intraspecific varieties
S. jonesii remains its own species
S. rubra ssp. alabamensis will be raised to species rank as S. alabamensis ssp. alabamensis
S. rubra ssp. wherryi will be changed to S. alabamensis ssp. wherryi
S. rubra ssp. gulfensis will remain the same
S. rubra ssp. rubra will remain the same
and the undiagnosed S. rubra ancestral form will hopefully fall under either S. rubra or S. alabamensis somewhere. My guess is its some sort of hybrid between the two genetically.

Anyway, thanks for reading!
 
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Congrats, Mason! A most worthwhile endeavor.
 
WOOHOOOOO!!! Any CPer's dream.
 
Congratulations Mason! I don't know if you are familiar with Furches' work, he spent many years doing a molecular phylogeny of Sarracenia. If you haven't read it his thesis will be very helpful:
http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2675&context=utk_graddiss

Again, I don't know if you have studied it or not, but the nuclear sequences strongly supported rosea as sister to a comb of the purp ssps and varieties here, though the organelle sequences were unhelpful:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0039291

The genus remains an interesting subject for molecular investigation. I'd encourage you to take this opportunity--
 
An excellent opportunity. I should hope it goes into a doctorate as it seems a bit ambitious for the 1 or 2 years of a masters program.
 
Congrats! :boogie:
Since I'm trying to get into my Masters degree myself I know how good you must feel right now!
 
Thats what I would love to do- get some kind of degree working with these plants. Why can't I live somewhere that offers such opportunites? :(

Anyway, that's great! Good luck with your thesis.
 
Congrats! Currently in a PhD program with a focus on wetland biogeochemistry. Could never do the whole genetics thing, but gotta credit CPs for my interest in studying wet ecosystems.

Good luck with the grad school process. It's always nice to have a for sure option!
 
Congratulations, Mason! I'm in the process of getting into grad school, so I know how happy you must be! Looking forward to seeing the results of your work!
 
  • #10
Congrats and god speed.
 
  • #11
Congratulations!
 
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