ASSISTANT PROFESSOR JANET C. STEVEN

(434) 381-6365
jsteven@sbc.edu

Education:
2003 - 2005   Postdoctoral Researcher, Indiana University
Ph.D.  2003   University of Wisconsin, Madison (Botany)
B.S.  1996     Davidson College (Biology)

Courses I teach
Introduction to Organisms, Introduction to Cells, Introductory Laboratory Techniques, Plants and Human Affairs, Laboratory in Plants and Human Affairs, The Plant Kingdom, Plant Physiology, Evolution, Honors Seminar: Evolution in Today's World. Evolution of Plant Reproductive Strategies (at Mountain Lake Biological Station, summer 2009).

Research

I am interested in plant evolution, and in the ecological interactions that lead to selection and diversification in plant lineages. I conduct observations and experiments in the field and greenhouse and use quantitative genetic tools to test the predictions of evolutionary theory. During my Ph.D., my research focused on the ecological pressures involved in the evolution of plant breeding systems. Currently, I am studying the quantitative genetics of sexual dimorphism and initiating a project to explore the adaptive significance of sexual dimorphism and its role in facilitating the evolution of dioecy.

Publications

Penny, Rebecca H. (SBC '08) and Janet C. Steven. 2009. Sexual dimorphism in pollen grain size in cryptically dioecious Thalictrum macrostylum. Plant Systematics and Evolution 279:11-19.

Steven, Janet C., Lynda F. Delph and Edmund D. Brodie III. 2007. Sexual dimorphism in the quatitative-genetic architecture of floral, leaf, and allocation traits in Silene latifolia. Evolution 61: 42-57 .

Steven, Janet C. and Donald M. Waller. 2007. Local isolation affects reproductive success in low-density but not high-density populations of two wind-pollinated Thalictrum species. Plant Ecology 190: 131-141 .

Delph, Lynda F., Frank M. Frey, Janet C. Steven and Janet L. Gehring. 2004. Investigating the independent evolution of the size of floral organs via G-matrix estimation and artificial selection. Evolution and Development 6:438-448.

Steven, Janet C. and Donald M. Waller. 2004. Reproductive alternatives to insect pollination in four species of Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae). Plant Species Biology 19:73-80.

Steven, Janet C., Thomas P. Rooney, Owen D. Boyle, and Donald M. Waller. 2003. Density-dependent pollinator visitation and self-incompatibility in upper Great Lakes populations of Trillium grandiflorum. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 130:23-29.

Steven, Janet C., Patricia A. Peroni, and Ellen Rowell. 1999. The effects of pollen addition on fruit set and sex expression in the andromonoecious herb horsenettle (Solanum carolinense). American Midland Naturalist 141:247-252.

Recent presentations (* = student)

2008. Pham, N.*, Robinson, A.*, Macone, M.*, Ruffle, L.*, Johnson, J.*, Capano, A., Fink, L.S. & Steven, J.C.  Long term ecological research on forest composition.  MARCUS (Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference on Undergraduate Scholarship), Sweet Briar College.

2007. Steven, Janet C. and Rebecca H. Penny*. Sexual dimorphism in pollen grain size and flower number varies among populations in a cryptically dioecious plant, Thalictrum macrostylum (Ranunculaceae). Joint Congress of the Botanical Society of America and the American Society of Plant Biologists, Chicago, IL.

2005. Steven, Janet C., Lynda F. Delph and Edmund D. Brodie. Genetic integration of traits constrains leaf physiology in males more than in females of Silene latifolia. Society for the Study of Evolution meetings, Fairbanks, Alaska.

2004. Steven, Janet C., Lynda F. Delph and Frank M. Frey. Independent evolution of floral parts: Evidence from G matrix estimation and artificial selection. Society for the Study of Evolution meetings, Fort Collins, Colorado.

2002. Steven, Janet C. and Donald M. Waller. Resource allocation to sex function in wind- and insect-pollinated species of Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae). Botanical Society of America meetings, Madison, Wisconsin.

2001. Steven, Janet C. and Donald M. Waller. Plant density and reproductive success in two wind pollinated species of Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae). Ecological Society of America meetings, Madison, Wisconsin.