Education

BA, Reed College; MS, The Ohio State University; PhD, Claremont Graduate University

Diana Jolles is an evolutionary botanist who joined PSU’s Biological Sciences department in 2016. Herresearchfocuses on how different aspects of natural history such as reproductive biology, biogeography, and ecological associations influence both plant population demographics and phylogeny. She uses this information to discover new lineages/species and to refine our understanding of plant taxonomy.

Jolles is an expert on the western North AmericanPyrola pictaspecies complex (Ericaceae), a group of closely related, mycoheterotrophic plants. ThesePyrolaspecies represent just a few of the many Angiosperm species adapted for ‘buzz-pollination’, a form of vibratile anther dehiscence. Jolles’ current research is focused on population genomics and biogeographic patterns in plant lineages growing in New England, includingCypripedium acaule(Orchidaceae), the pink lady slipper orchid, andChimaphila maculata(Ericaceae), an eastern North American species with close relatives in Mexico.

Methods that Jolles employs for data collection and hypothesis testing include: molecular systematics, morphometry, GIS, experimental cross-fertilization, anatomical and micromorphological analyses using serial sectioning and microscopy, and phenological observations. A critical element of Jolles’ research is the collection and permanent preservation of plant specimens, which are stored in anherbarium– these specimens are curated by Jolles and her botanist colleagues so that they can be studied by scientists world-wide.

Selected Publications
Stoughton TR, Jolles DD, O’Quinn RL. 2017. The western spring beauties,Claytonia lanceolata(Montiaceae): a review and revised taxonomy for California.Systematic Botany42(2): 283-300.

Burge DO, Stoughton TR, Jolles DD. 2017. Soil chemistry patterns in an edaphic endemism hotspot: the pebble plains of the San Bernardino Mountains, California.Madroño64(1): 9-21.

Jolles, DD. 2015. Morphometric analysis of floral variation in thePyrola pictaspecies complex (Ericaceae): interpretation and implications for ecological and phylogenetic differentiation.Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society177: 462–480.

Liu, Z-W, DD Jolles, J Zhou, H Peng and RI Milne. 2014. Multiple origins of circumboreal taxa inPyrola(Ericaceae), a group of plants with a Tertiary relict distribution.Annals of Botany114(8): 1701–1709.

Jolles, DD and CA Wilson. 2014.Pyrola crypta: a Pacific Northwest species belonging to thePyrola pictaspecies complex.Taxon63(4): 789–800.

Stoughton, TR, DD Jolles and HA Bartosh. 2014. Recognizing a new species ofSilene(Caryophyllaceae) from California: a splitter’s game?California Fish and Game100(1): 138–1524.

Stoughton, TR and DD Jolles. 2013. Discovery ofClaytonia lanceolatavar.peirsoniiin the San Bernardino Mountains perpetuates a history of taxonomic uncertainty.Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany31(1): 35–42.

Hynson, NA, D Jolles and TP Madsen. 2012. A case ofPyrolaplantlets with picky palates leads to new insights on mycoheterotrophic seedlings and the fungi that feed them.New Phytologist195: 503–506.

Jolles, DD and AD Wolfe. 2012. Genetic differentiation and crypsis among members of the mycoheterotrophicPyrola pictaspecies complex (Pyroleae: Monotropoideae: Ericaceae).Systematic Botany37(2): 468–477.

Courses Taught at PSU
Biological Sciences 1 (BI 1110)
Plants and Society (BIDI 2050)
Botany (BI 2070)
Plant Diversity and Evolution (BI 4750)
Biology Seminar (BI 4970)

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