Chicago Botanic Garden

Plant Science — OUR SCIENTISTS

PHOTO: Nyree ZeregaNyree Zerega, Ph.D.

Plant Biology and Conservation
Director, Master's Program in Plant Biology and Conservation

B.S., Truman State University
M.S. and Ph.D., New York University


PUBLICATIONS
(847) 835-6916

In a collaboration with Northwestern University, Dr. Nyree J.C. Zerega serves as Director of the Master's program in plant biology and conservation. The program's objective is to harness the expertise of both institutions to educate the next generation of plant scientists.

After graduating from Truman State University in 1995, Nyree received her Ph.D. from New York University and the New York Botanical Garden, and then worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Minnesota.


Research Interests

My research integrates molecular, morphological, and phylogenetic tools with fieldwork to investigate the systematics, evolution, biogeography, and reproductive ecology of plants. I am also interested in the origins of cultivated plants. My work focuses primarily on members of the Moraceae (mulberry) family (~1100 species in 37 genera). The family displays an amazing array of diversity in inflorescence structures, pollination syndromes, breeding systems, floral characters, and growth forms. This diversity makes it an excellent group for addressing many intriguing evolutionary questions. Additionally, it includes several important food and fiber sources such as breadfruit, figs, and paper mulberry.

For more information about specific projects, click here.

 

Selected Current publications

RØnsted, N., G.D. Weiblen, W.L. Clement, N.J.C. Zerega, and V. Savolainen. 2008. Reconstructing the phylogeny of figs (Ficus, Moraceae) to reveal the history of the fig pollination mutualism. Symbiosis 45:45-56.

Zerega, N.J.C., D. Ragone, and T.J. Motley. 2006. Genetic diversity and origins of domesticated breadfruit. In Darwin’s Harvest: New Approaches to the Origins, Evolution, and Conservation of Crops, ed. T.J. Motley, N.J.C. Zerega, and H.B. Cross. Columbia University Press, New York.

Motley, T.J., N.J.C. Zerega, and H.B. Cross, ed. 2006. Darwin’s Harvest: New Approaches to the Origins, Evolution, and Conservation of Crops. New York: Columbia University Press.

Zerega, N.J.C., W.L. Clement, S.L. Datwyler, and G.D. Weiblen. 2005. Biogeography and divergence times in the mulberry family (Moraceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37:402-416.

Zerega, N.J.C., D. Ragone, and T.J. Motley. 2005. Systematics and species limits of breadfruit (Artocarpus, Moraceae). Systematic Botany 30(3):603-615.

Zerega, N.J.C., L.A. Mound, and G.D. Weiblen. 2004. Pollination in the New Guinea endemic Antiaropsis decipiens (Moraceae) is mediated by a new species of thrips, Thrips antiaropsidis sp. nov. (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 165(6):1,017-1,026.

Zerega, N.J.C., D. Ragone, and T.J. Motley. 2004. Complex origins of breadfruit: Implications for human migrations in Oceania. American Journal of Botany 91(5):760-766.

Zerega, N.J.C. 2003. The Breadfruit Trail. Natural History 112(10):46-51.

Zerega, N.J.C., S. Mori, C. Lindqvist, Q. Zheng, and T.J. Motley. 2002. Using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) to identify black cohosh (Actaea racemosa). Economic Botany 56(2):154-164.

Bultman, T.L. and N.J. Conard. 1998. Effects of endophytic fungus, nutrient level, and plant damage on performance of Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Environmental Entomology 27(3):631-635.