Welcome!
As plant systematists and evolutionary biologists, members of the Sigel Lab are broadly interested in using phylogenomic and comparative genomic methods to explore the patterns and processes that shape plant diversity. While our research projects are diverse, some predominant themes of our work include the long and short term evolutionary consequences of whole genome duplication (i.e. polyploidization) and hybridization (i.e. reticulation), the role of polyploidy in promoting invasiveness, and the development of novel genomic markers and bioinformatic techniques for phylogenomic inference. Our research extensively utilizes herbarium specimens and focuses primarily (but not exclusively) on ferns, a lineage with an extensive history of both paleo-and neo-polyploidy, which presents many opportunities for investigating polyploid formation, persistence, and diversification.
In January 2021, the Sigel Lab moved to the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of New Hampshire where Erin Sigel is the Collections Manager for the Albion Hodgdon Herbarium.
Please explore our website to learn more about ongoing research in the Sigel Lab.
