Ryan Schmidt-Knapik

Graduate Student
Ryan Schmidt, a man wearing a construction vest, stands next to a tall Verbascum plant in flower, smiling
ryanschmidt@g.harvard.edu

Hi! I am a PhD student in the Davis lab working in the Harvard University Herbaria. I am a botanist broadly interested in understanding how humans have shaped biodiversity through space and time, with a focus on the ecologies and evolutionary histories of human-associated “weedy” plants and their relatives. In my research, I use a combination of ecological, phylogenetic, historical, and museum-based methods to better understand the mechanisms that allow some plants to colonize new areas. I am especially interested in how historical transportation infrastructure (e.g., shipping, ballast deposition, and railroads) has shaped global biodiversity through historical species introductions, and the ecology, evolution, and biogeography of the genus Verbascum (mulleins; Scrophulariaceae).