University of Georgia Department of Plant Biology

Ph.D Plant Evolutionary Biology, University of Georgia 2003

My research focuses on 1) the impact of landscape level disturbance and habitat fragmentation on the evolutionary trajectories of plant species, particularly neotropical orchids and epiphytes and 2) phylogeographic analyses for the purpose of identifying ancient refugia associated with Pleistocene glacial maxima and subsequent expansion zones of plant taxa in response to global warming.

Our lab employs population genetic tools to develop an understanding of the evolutionary factors that shape patterns of genetic variation in natural plant populations and the manner in which species-wide variation is partitioned and maintained. This is of particular interest in the context of increasingly fragmented landscapes and the ubiquitous nature of human induced habitat disturbance as well as global climate change.

• Organization for Tropical Studies, Assembly of Delegates representative for the University of Georgia. June 2009 - present.

• Parker KC, Trapnell DW, Hamrick JL, Hodgson WC, Parker AJ (2010) Inferring ancient Agave cultivation practices from contemporary genetic patterns. Molecular Ecology, 19, 1622-1637.
• Gonzales E., Hamrick JL, Smouse PE, Trapnell DW, Peakall, R (2010) The impact of landscape disturbance on spatial genetic structure in the Guanacaste tree, Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Fabaceae). Journal of Heredity, 12, 133-143.
• Trapnell DW, Schmidt JP, Quintana-Ascencio PF, Hamrick JL (2007) Genetic insights into the biogeography of the southeastern endemic, Ceratiola ericoides (Empetraceae). Journal of Heredity, 98, 587-593.
• Trapnell DW, Hamrick JL (2006) Floral display and mating patterns within populations of the neotropical epiphytic orchid, Laelia rubescens. American Journal of Botany, 93, 1010-1018.
• Schuettpelz E, Trapnell DW (2006) Exceptional epiphyte diversity on a single tree in Costa Rica. Selbyana, 27, 65-71.
• Trapnell DW, Hamrick JL (2005) Mating patterns and gene flow in the neotropical epiphytic orchid, Laelia rubescens. Molecular Ecology, 14, 75-84.
• Trapnell DW, Hamrick JL (2004) Partitioning nuclear and chloroplast variation at multiple spatial scales in the neotropical epiphytic orchid, Laelia rubescens. Molecular Ecology, 13, 2655-2666.
• Trapnell DW, Hamrick JL, Nason JD (2004) Three-dimensional fine-scale genetic structure of the neotropical orchid, Laelia rubescens. Molecular Ecology, 13, 1111-1118.

• Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation,
• Botanical Society of America,
• New Jersey Board of Certified Public Accountants,
• Organization for Tropical Studies,
• Society for the Study of Evolution,