Our Scientists

With state-of-the-art research and growth facilities nestled alongside over 15,000 living specimens (~ 4000 taxa), the Arnold Arboretum is uniquely positioned to ask broad and important questions in plant biology. Our scientists’ research is as diverse as our living collection, ranging from organismic and evolutionary biology, molecular and developmental biology, plant physiology, and ecological, environmental and biodiversity studies.

	Senior Research Scientist Peter Del Tredici is also a lecturer in landscape architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His research interests are wide ranging and mainly involve the interaction between woody plants and their environment. Recently, his investigations have expanded to include studies of spontaneous urban vegetation.
	Michael Dosmann, curator of living collections, guides the Arboretum’s stewardship and development of its collection of temperate woody species. His work explores new strategies and tactics aimed at improving collections management and enhancing the use of Arboretum collections for research. Additionally, he conducts research on the physiological ecology of woody plants and participates in floristic efforts through domestic and foreign plant exploration.
	Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and director of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Ned Friedman is interested in the organismic interfaces between developmental, phylogenetic, and evolutionary biology. The Friedman Lab explores how patterns of morphology, anatomy, and reproductive biology have evolved through the modification of developmental processes.
	Utilizing the conifer collection, Guangyou Hao, Arnold Arboretum Putnam Fellow, will study the differences in the structural, physiological, and mechanical properties of water transport and xylem hydraulics between evergreen and deciduous conifers. Deciduous conifers (which shed their leaves) are confined to wetter environments, indicating that these differences may play a role in adapting to different environments.
	Juan M. Losada is a postdoctoral fellow and Putnam Scholar in the Friedman Lab. He is interested in the biochemical communication events between the male and female during pollination and fertilization. Currently, he is focusing on the evolution of the nourishing behavior of the perisperm and endosperm.
	Sarah Mathews is a Sargent Fellow and principal investigator at the Arnold Arboretum. She is interested in plant phylogenetics and in the question of how changes in light-sensing systems have influenced the ability of plants to survive and diversify. The Mathews Lab uses phylogenetic, genetic, and comparative physiological approaches to explore the links between molecular and functional evolution in the phytochrome photoreceptor family.
	A PhD candidate working in the Friedman Lab, Rebecca Povilus is interested in the idea that molecular resources are important tools for connecting how changes at the gene and genome level affect developmental processes. She is currently focusing on how evolutionary changes during the development of the egg-producing structure could give rise to the wide array of egg-sac morphologies in angiosperms.
	The research interests of Director of Research Facilitation Faye Rosin bear on investigating how gene expression is regulated and the consequences of that regulation at the molecular, cellular, and developmental levels. Faye’s investigations at Harvard involve tracking thousands of genes to see how the transcriptional program of an entire organ has been modified to direct three key innovations in columbine flower development.
	Senior Research Scientist and principal investigator Cam Webb studies the evolution and ecology of tropical plants, and is experimenting with new informatics and capacity-building approaches to plant inventory and taxonomy. Cam’s current research project, a collaboration with co-PI Sarah Mathews and funded by the National Science Foundation, focuses on the ecology, biogeography, and biodiversity informatics of trees in Indonesian forests.