Authors

James E. Eckenwalder

James E. Eckenwalder is associate professor of plant systematics at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, where he focuses on taxonomy, natural hybridization and macroevolution. He graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and earned his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. His research, which has resulted in significant changes to conifer taxonomy, emphasizes the classification and evolution of vascular plants, especially trees. His interests include the theoretical and practical bases of plant classification, the tracing of evolutionary histories, the integration of different lines of taxonomic evidence into classifications, the most effective ways of incorporating taxonomically awkward organisms (especially hybrids and fossils) into classifications and the testing of taxonomic hypotheses. His research focuses on groups at different taxonomic levels: the genus Populus, the aspens, cottonwoods and other poplars; the family Convolvulaceae, which includes morning glories and bindweeds; and the gymnosperms, the generally cone-bearing plants that include pine, spruce and fir trees, junipers, cypresses, cedars and redwoods (all conifers), as well as cycads and ginkgo. Eckenwalder’s research employs a broad spectrum of modern and traditional approaches, including biosystematics, chemotaxonomy (flavenoids), numerical taxonomy and morphometrics, paleobotany and cladistics, among other techniques.