Gretta Buttelmann

My research surrounds the evolution of traits in crops and their wild relatives, focusing on grass species related to maize (tribe Andropogoneae, family Poaceae). I am most interested in understanding convergence in genomic changes that contribute to the transition from perennial to annual life history, a change that has occurred multiple times throughout the evolutionary history of Andropogoneae. I am also interested in understanding genetic differences between populations of a species to understand if there is convergence in how species adapt to the environmental gradients experienced across their native ranges.