Sarah M. Swope

Education

BS, Prescott College
MS, Northern Arizona University
PhD, University of California, Santa Cruz

Professional Interests

Local adaptation and gene flow; plant population biology and population genetics; the conservation of rare native plants in a rapidly changing climate

Biography

Sarah Swope is an evolutionary ecologist and studies three very rare plants in Marin County. She is interested in how plants cope with life in a variable world and the role of genetic diversity in promoting local adaptation. Additionally, all of her work has a conservation theme running through it. She is using her data to make predictions about whether these species are likely to evolve fast enough to keep up with climate change and to recommend ways to protect them.