Mitch Cruzan is a Professor of Biology at Portland State University. He received his BA and MA from California State University, Fullerton, and his PhD from SUNY, Stony Brook. He is the author of an advanced text book in plant evolutionary biology (Evolutionary Biology - A Plant Perspective) and more than 75 publications in refereed journals.
Cruzan and his students utilize ecological and molecular genetic techniques to address questions in plant ecology and evolutionary biology. His research interests include the evolutionary consequences of somatic mutation accumulation and developmental selection in plants, and the ecological and evolutionary processes of hybridization, invasive species, phylogeography, and dispersal.
Current Projects:
- Dispersal, range expansion, and adaptation in the newly invasive grass, slender false brome, in the Pacific Northwest
- Landscape genetics and dispersal of upland prairie plants in Southern Oregon
- The processes and consequences of somatic mutation accumulation in plants