Helen Miller Alexander

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Professor

halex@ku.edu

Primary office:

785-864-3221

Haworth Hall
Room 7006

University of Kansas

1200 Sunnyside Avenue

Lawrence, KS 66045-7534

Bio
Academics
Publications

Dr. Helen Alexander studies the ecology and evolution of plant-pathogen interactions; hybridization between crop and wild plants; and long-term demography of rare prairie plants.

Education

Ph.D., Botany and Genetics, Duke University

B.S., Botany, University of Wisconsin

Teaching Interests

Conservation Biology
Introduction to Biostatistics
Research Methods
Kansas Plants and Landscapes

Research

As a researcher, I am fascinated by the population biology of plants. My work has primarily been in three areas: 1) studies of the ecology and evolution of plant-fungus and plant-virus interactions, 2) research on the population dynamics of wild sunflowers, and the ecology and genetics of hybridization between crop and wild plants, and 3) long-term demographic studies of a rare prairie plant, Mead’s milkweed, including using “mark recapture” models to estimate population size, detectability, and probability of survival. As an educator, I teach courses in conservation biology, biostatistics, and research methods. I have been fortunate to win several teaching awards, including a Chancellors Club Teaching Professorship. Finally, my outreach and service activities often involve outdoor education and interactions with secondary school science and math teachers.

Research Interests

Ecology and evolution of plant-pathogen interactions
Hybridization between crop and wild plants
Long-term demography of rare prairie plants

Selected Publications

Dendy, S. P., Tong, B., Alexander, H. M., Fay, P. A., Murray, L., Xing, Y., & Garrett, K. A. (in press). A long-term study of burning effects on a plant pathogen in tallgrass prairie. Plant Pathology.

Alexander, H. M., Bruns, E., Schebor, H., & Malmstrom, C. M. (in press). Crop-associated virus infection in a native perennial grass: reduction in plant fitness and dynamic patterns of virus detection. Journal of Ecology.

Pace, B. A, Alexander, H. M, Emry, D. J, & Mercer, K. L (2016). Reliable Method for Assessing Seed Germination, Dormancy, and Mortality under Field Conditions. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE,(117). DOI:10.3791/54663

Malmstrom, C. M, & Alexander, H. M (2016). Effects of crop viruses on wild plants. Current opinion in virology, 19, 30-6. DOI:10.1016/j.coviro.2016.06.008

Bever, J. D., Mangan, S. A., & Alexander, H. M. (2015). Maintenance of Plant Species Diversity by Pathogens. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 46, 305-325. DOI:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054306

Kost, M. A., Alexander, H. M., Emry, D. Jason, & Mercer, K. L. (2015). Life history traits and phenotypic selection among sunflower crop-wild hybrids and their wild counterpart: implications for crop allele introgression. EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS, 8(5), 510-524. DOI:10.1111/eva.12261

Alexander, H. M. (2015). ECOLOGY Shared ancestry predicts disease levels. NATURE, 520(7548), 446-447.

Pace, B. A., Alexander, H. M., Emry, J. D., & Mercer, K. L. (2015). Seed fates in crop-wild hybrid sunflower: crop allele and maternal effects. EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS, 8(2), 121-132. DOI:10.1111/eva.12236

Roy, B. A., Alexander, H. M., Davidson, J., Campbell, F. T., Burdon, J. J., Sniezko, R., & Brasier, C. (2014). Increasing forest loss worldwide from invasive pests requires new trade regulations. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, 12(8), 457-465. DOI:10.1890/130240

Alexander, H. M., Emry, D. Jason, Pace, B. A., Kost, M. A., Sparks, K. A., & Mercer, K. L. (2014). ROLES OF MATERNAL EFFECTS AND NUCLEAR GENETIC COMPOSITION CHANGE ACROSS THE LIFE CYCLE OF CROP-WILD HYBRIDS . AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 101(7), 1176-1188. DOI:10.3732/ajb.1400088

Alexander, H. M., Mauck, K. E., Whitfield, A. E., Garrett, K. A., & Malmstrom, C. M. (2014). Plant-virus interactions and the agro-ecological interface. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY, 138(3, SI), 529-547. DOI:10.1007/s10658-013-0317-1

Mercer, K. L, Emry, D. J, Snow, A. A, Kost, M. A, Pace, B. A, & Alexander, H. M (2014). Fitness of crop-wild hybrid sunflower under competitive conditions: implications for crop-to-wild introgression. PloS one, 9(10), e109001. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0109001

Alexander, H. M., Reed, A. W., Kettle, W. D., Slade, N. A., Bodbyl-Roels, S. A., Collins, C. D., & Salisbury, V. (2012). Detection and plant monitoring programs: lessons from an intensive survey of Asclepias meadii with five observers. PLoS ONE, 7(12), e52762. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0052762 http://hdl.handle.net/1808/13354

Alexander, H. M., Foster, B. L., Ballantyne, F., Collins, C. D., Antonovics, J., & Holt, R. D. (2012). Metapopulations and metacommunities: combining spatial and temporal perspectives in plant ecology. Journal of Ecology, 100, 88-103.