Siri Birkeland

Siri Birkeland

Postdoktor

  • BIAS

I am an evolutionary biologist interested in big questions within plant evolution. In the past, I have worked to understand the extent to which evolution is repeatable at the molecular level in distantly related plant genera, and how plant species adapt to extreme environments, such as the Arctic.

In my postdoc at NMBU, I will study how some plant species have developed a woody growth form. Trees are an old evolutionary invention, but the woody growth form has been lost and gained repeatedly throughout the history of plants. In fact, it is not uncommon for plants to evolve into trees when they colonize remote islands. How and why a woody growth form repeatidly is lost and gained is one of the great mysteries of the plant world.

In the EVOTREE project, we will take a closer look at the gene networks underlying wood formation in plants. Together with researchers from Umeå University, we will describe and compare the gene networks of woody species representing different evolutionary plant groups. We aim to understand what makes a tree a tree, and how a woody growth form is so easily lost and gained.

For more info, see my personal webpage: http://siribirkeland.com/