Jeff Ahern Email & Phone Number

Broadly speaking, I am an evolutionary ecologist interested in the processes that generate and maintain trait variation in nature. I am most interested in plant-herbivore interactions, focusing on the chemical mediators of the interactions from a phytocentric (plant-based) perspective. I received my PhD from Rice University, where I investigated the evolutionary ecology of a plant defensive chemical polymorphism. After that I conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Turku in Finland under the mentorship of Dr. Juha-Pekka Salminen. While there I investigated micro- and macro-evolutionary patterns of plant phenolics, and structure activity relationships and plant ellagitannins. To accomplish my research objectives I utilize a multidiciplinary array of techniques, includingfield and greenhouse experiments, phytochemical analysis and isolation, and statistical analyses.

Listed skills include Mass Spectrometry, Chemistry, R, Spectroscopy, and 10 others.