Norman Wickett, Professorship of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany

Contact Norman Wickett

"My research is focused on understanding the patterns and processes that have given rise to the extraordinary diversity of plant species that exist on Earth today by linking genetic and genomic signatures to specific traits, such as floral scent or habitat preference. This work is done at multiple evolutionary scales, from the origin of terrestrial plants over 400 million years ago, to recent and rapid diversification events, such as the speciation of plants on the Hawaiian Islands. In all cases, I hope that a better grasp of how plant species originate and evolve will provide insights into addressing our current biodiversity crisis.” (Norman Wickett)

Research areas:

* Plant diversity and speciation
* Biology of mosses and liverworts
* Evolution of plant parasitism
* Evolutionary consequences of genome duplication in plants
* The development and application of bioinformatic tools for plant diversity research

Curriculum Vitae:

2001-2007 PhD – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, USA
1996-2001 BSc – Biology (Botany), University of British Columbia, Canada

Postdoctoral Positions:
2010-2011 Bioinformatics, the 1KP Project University of Georgia, GA, USA
2008-2010 Lead Bioinformatician, The Parasitic Plant Genome Project Penn State University, PA, USA
2007-2008 Genomics, The Liverwort Tree of Life Project University of Connecticut, CT, USA

Professional Positions:
2022-2024 Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, SC, USA
2020-2022 Senior Conservation Scientist, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL, USA, Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
2015-2020 Associate Conservation Scientist, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL, USA, Adjunct Associate Professor, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
2011-2015 Assistant Conservation Scientist, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL, USA, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

Professional Appointments:
2022– pres. Secretary and Executive Board Member, Botanical Society of America
2019– pres. Senior Associate Editor – Applications in Plant Sciences
2016-2019 Associate Editor – Applications in Plant Sciences
2013-2022 Committee on Evolutionary Biology – University of Chicago, IL, USA 2010 – 2020 Research Associate – Field Museum of Natural History, IL, USA
since September 2024 Professorship of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna