Meg Staton
Specialization: Bioinformatics & Computational Genomics
I earned my B.S. in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Plant and Environmental Science from Clemson University. I joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2014 where I lead a research and teaching program focused on plant computational genomics.
Tree health – in forests, urban landscapes and orchards - is critically endangered from increasing numbers of invasive pests and pathogens as well as abiotic stresses such as drought. Genetic and genomic tools hold great promise to understand and combat the rising levels of native plant mortality, particularly for woody perennial plants with long generation times and resource intensive breeding programs. Plant breeders and forest managers are beginning to integrate molecular information into breeding, genetic improvement, and conservation/management programs. Web portals and software tools to support field work, including observational data and sampling, are needed to scale up research projects and engage citizen scientists in scouting for trees of interest to scientists. My teaching, outreach, and teaching focus on these critical, synergistic activities to promote forest health.
My program uses bioinformatic approaches to build foundational genomic resources and understand the molecular underpinnings of important tree crop phenotypes, including pest/pathogen resistance and ornamental traits.
Custom mobile apps and online tools can not only educate the public about science but engage them in collecting data. The success of our original outreach mobile app, TreeSnap, has led to many new collaborations to build mobile app/web platforms.
- What are the species boundaries and genetic diversity of Fraxinus species (ashes) native to North America, and what is the genetic architecture of emerald ash borer (EAB) resistance?
- How have Quercus (oak) species evolved? Do the patterns of genomic introgression arising from the white oak and red oak syngameon (formed by sympatric species with low levels of hybridization) harbor evidence that oak species have and are sharing genetic elements that contribute to adaptation?
- What are the genetic loci controlling ornamental traits, such as pigmentation and architecture, prized in ornamental tree breeding?
- Can a graph-based super pangenome in an interspecific breeding program be used to reduce reference genome bias and more accurately impute structural variation using short read DNA sequencing?
- What is the genetic architecture of huanglongbing (citrus greening) tolerance in Australian Citrus species and how can it be efficiently deployed into Citrus cultivars?
2431 Joe Johnson Drive
Knoxville, TN 37996
- Doctorate, Plant and Environmental Science, Clemson University, 2007
- BS, Computer Science, Clemson University, 2003
Meg Staton
2431 Joe Johnson Drive
Knoxville, TN 37996
- Doctorate, Plant and Environmental Science, Clemson University, 2007
- BS, Computer Science, Clemson University, 2003
I earned my B.S. in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Plant and Environmental Science from Clemson University. I joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2014 where I lead a research and teaching program focused on plant computational genomics.
Tree health – in forests, urban landscapes and orchards - is critically endangered from increasing numbers of invasive pests and pathogens as well as abiotic stresses such as drought. Genetic and genomic tools hold great promise to understand and combat the rising levels of native plant mortality, particularly for woody perennial plants with long generation times and resource intensive breeding programs. Plant breeders and forest managers are beginning to integrate molecular information into breeding, genetic improvement, and conservation/management programs. Web portals and software tools to support field work, including observational data and sampling, are needed to scale up research projects and engage citizen scientists in scouting for trees of interest to scientists. My teaching, outreach, and teaching focus on these critical, synergistic activities to promote forest health.
My program uses bioinformatic approaches to build foundational genomic resources and understand the molecular underpinnings of important tree crop phenotypes, including pest/pathogen resistance and ornamental traits.
Custom mobile apps and online tools can not only educate the public about science but engage them in collecting data. The success of our original outreach mobile app, TreeSnap, has led to many new collaborations to build mobile app/web platforms.
- What are the species boundaries and genetic diversity of Fraxinus species (ashes) native to North America, and what is the genetic architecture of emerald ash borer (EAB) resistance?
- How have Quercus (oak) species evolved? Do the patterns of genomic introgression arising from the white oak and red oak syngameon (formed by sympatric species with low levels of hybridization) harbor evidence that oak species have and are sharing genetic elements that contribute to adaptation?
- What are the genetic loci controlling ornamental traits, such as pigmentation and architecture, prized in ornamental tree breeding?
- Can a graph-based super pangenome in an interspecific breeding program be used to reduce reference genome bias and more accurately impute structural variation using short read DNA sequencing?
- What is the genetic architecture of huanglongbing (citrus greening) tolerance in Australian Citrus species and how can it be efficiently deployed into Citrus cultivars?