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Emery, Nancy C.

Associate Professor

Positions

Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • Emery is an evolutionary ecologist who how plants adapt and evolve in changing environments. Emery's lab uses field experiments, genetic analyses, functional trait measurements, and comparative methods, to understand the genetic, environmental, and developmental mechanisms that determine how organisms cope with environmental stress, respond to fluctuating conditions, and interact with their surrounding ecological community. She has several different plant species that specialize on a variety of different ecosystems, including vernal pool wetlands, alpine tundra, serpentine grasslands, salt marshes, and deciduous woodlands. She is currently the PI of the Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research program, through which she is studying the ecological and evolutionary drivers of plant responses to climatic variation in the alpine tundra flora.

keywords

  • evolutionary ecology, plant population biology, adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, gene flow, alpine

Publications

selected publications

Teaching

courses taught

  • EBIO 3080 - Evolutionary Biology
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2023
    Lect. and lab. Emphasizes the fundamental evolutionary concepts that provide explanations for the diversification of life on Earth. Specific topics include the evidence for evolution, adaptation by natural selection, speciation, systematics, molecular and genome evolution, and macroevolutionary patterns and processes. Recitations allow students to explore specific topics in more depth and smaller groups. Recommended prerequisites: EBIO 1210 and EBIO 1220 (minimum grade C-). Degree credit not granted for this course and EBIO 3680.
  • EBIO 3990 - EBIO Honors Thesis Research
    Primary Instructor - Summer 2021
    Provides an introduction to the departmental Honors program. Consists of individual library research on a potential Honors thesis topic under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Recommended prerequisites: minimum 3.2 GPA and approval by departmental honors committee.
  • EBIO 4600 - Evolutionary Ecology
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2022
    Evaluates how interactions within species, among species and between species and the environment evolve over time. Emphasizes the development of scientific skills, including ecological, genetic and statistical tools for testing hypotheses in evolutionary ecology. Lab activities include research projects that quantify natural selection, gene flow and phenotypic plasticity in natural systems, and a semester-long class experiment examining plant dispersal. Same as EBIO 5600.
  • EBIO 4870 - Independent Research: Upper Division
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Fall 2018 / Summer 2019 / Fall 2019 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2021 / Spring 2023
    May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
  • EBIO 4990 - EBIO Honors Thesis Research
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2023
    To be taken during the final academic year prior to graduation. Consists of the final phase of honors research and thesis preparation under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Recommended prerequisites: minimum 3.3 GPA and a declared EBIO major and approval by departmental Honors program.
  • EBIO 5600 - Evolutionary Ecology
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019
    Evaluates how interactions within species, among species and between species and the environment evolve over time. Emphasizes the development of scientific skills, including ecological, genetic and statistical tools for testing hypotheses in evolutionary ecology. Lab activities include research projects that quantify natural selection, gene flow and phenotypic plasticity in natural systems, and a semester-long class experiment examining plant dispersal. Same as EBIO 4600.
  • EBIO 6200 - Seminar in Population Biology
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2021 / Spring 2023
    May be repeated up to 7 total credit hours. Same as EBIO 6210.
  • EBIO 6300 - Seminar in Organismic Biology
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
    May be repeated up to 7 total credit hours.
  • EBIO 6840 - Independent Research (Master's Level)
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2022
    Instructor consent required. May be repeated up to 7 total credit hours.

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