Education
- Ph.D. 2000, University of Minnesota
- B.S. 1994, University of Minnesota, summa cum laude
- B.A. 1986, School for International Training
Websites:
Research and Teaching Interests
My research focuses on evolution of populations in response to anthropogenic stressors, especially climate change, and appropriate management practices to ameliorate negative impacts of environmental perturbation. I have evaluated the role of evolution for biotic response to climate change by predicting evolution using quantitative genetic approaches, imposing evolution through artificial selection in ambient and water-stressed conditions, and preparing a baseline collection of seeds that can be used to study evolution using the resurrection approach for the next 50 years. In addition, I conducted several studies to evaluate the effectiveness and potential risks of assisted migration, a climate change management strategy.
Selected Publications
Authors were undergraduates*, graduate students**, and postdoctoral researchers***
- Etterson, J.R. and B.L. Gross. 2025. Quantitative Genetics and Climate Change. In: Kliman, R.M. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology. Oxford: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-15750-9.00088-4
- Etterson, Fliehr*, Pizza** and Gross. 2025. Domestication during restoration: Unintentional selection during eight generations of wild seed propagation reduces herkogamy, dichogamy and heterozygosity in Clarkia pulchella. Molecular Ecology. DOI:10.1111/mec.17655
- Gómez Quijano**, M.J., Gross, B.L. and Etterson, J.R., 2024. Genetic differentiation across a steep and narrow environmental gradient: Quantitative genetic and genomic insights into Lake Superior populations of Quercus rubra. Molecular Ecology, 33: p.e17483.
- Spear, M.M.**, Levi, S.J*., Etterson, J.R. and Gross, B.L., 2023. Resurrecting urban sunflowers: Phenotypic and molecular changes between antecedent and modern populations separated by 36 years. Molecular Ecology, 32: 5241-5259.
- Teather**, A. and J.R. Etterson 2023. Value-action gaps between sustainability behaviors, knowledge, attitudes, and engagement in campus and curricular activities within a cohort of Gen Z university students. Journal of Sustainability Education 28:1-40.
- Pizza, R., Espeland, E. and Etterson, J.R., 2021. Eight generations of native seed cultivation reduces plant fitness relative to the wild progenitor population. Evolutionary Applications, 14(7), pp.1816-1829.
- Etterson, J.R., M.W. Cornett, M.A. White, L.C. Kavajecz**. 2020. Using assisted migration to detect adaptation lags in two major North American tree species in response to global climate change. Ecological Applications. 30: e02092
Other Representative Publications
- 2012 Shaw, R.G. and J.R. Etterson. 2012. Tansley Review Rapid climate change and the rate of adaptation: in-sight from experimental quantitative genetics. New Phytologist 195:752-765
- 2012 Schwartz, M.W. et al. Managed Relocation: Integrating the Scientific, Regulatory, and Ethical Challenges. Bioscience 62:732-743
- 2007 Galloway, L.F., J.R. Etterson. 2007. Transgenerational plasticity is adaptive in the wild. Science 318:1134-1136
- 2005 Davis, M.B., R.G. Shaw and J.R. Etterson. Evolutionary responses to climate change. Ecology. 86:1704-1714
- 2001 Etterson, J.R. and R.G. Shaw. 2001. Constraint to adaptive evolution in response to global warming. Science 294:151-154
Teaches
- BIOL 3401 Evolution
- BIOL 3402 Evolution in the News
- BIOL 4818 Biotic Response to Climate Change
- BIOL 4865 Conservation Biology
- BIOL 5240 Ecological Genetics
- IBS 8012 Integrated Evolutionary Processes
Current Graduate Student Project
2025 - Alena Krauss. Integrated Bioscience Program (IBS), MS. Testing restoration at the community level. Recipient of $10,000 grant from MLSCP
2025 - Justin Stewart. IBS, MS. Assisted forest migration implement in restoration projects
2024 - Crimson Frankum. IBS, MS. Maternal effects in response to long-term biodiversity and drought treatments
2023 - Shannon Meehan. IBS, MS. Assessment of mycorrhizal communities and their value for tree fitness in a range of restoration settings. Recipient of $10,000 grant from MLSCP and a fellowship from the Mycological Society. Co-organizer of new campus Student Association of the Society for Ecological Restoration
2023 - Mikayla Haynes. IBS, PhD. Coadaptation between mycorrhizae and tree populations. Recipient of $10,000 grant from the UM Early Innovation Fund, $4,000 grant from Society for Ecological Restoration Midwest Great Lakes Chapter, a fellowship from Mycological Society. Co-organizer of new campus Student Association of the Society for Ecological Restoration
Previous Graduate Student Projects
2024 - Erin Bergen. IBS, MS. Co-advised with Dr. S. Dymond, Earth and Environmental Science. Recipient of a Minnesota Lake Superior Coastal Program research grant ($10,000) and Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research ($897). Recipient of two awards from Minnesota Lake Superior Coastal Program (2019, 2020 $10,000 each). Current position: employed in Duluth, MN
2021 - Maria Gomez. IBS, MS. Co-advised with Dr. B. Gross. Understanding population structure of northern red oak (Quercus rubra) in Minnesota. Recipient of a Minnesota Lake Superior Coastal Program research grant ($10,000). Current position: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Toronto
2020 - Riley Pizza, IBS, MS. Inadvertent evolution of wild populations on native seed farms. Recipient of Garden Club of America Fellowship ($8,000). Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher, Arizona State University
2019 - Haley Golz. IBS MS. Facilitated migration of herbaceous understory vegetation for climate change mitigation. Recipient of a Minnesota Lake Superior Coastal Program research grant ($7,500). Current position: Restoration Manager, MN Land Trust, Duluth, MN
2019 - Marissa Spears. IBS MS. Evolution in sunflowers after 30+ years: a resurrection experiment. Co advised with Dr. B.L. Gross. Current position: employed in Fort Collins, CO
2016 - Jordan Mead. IBS MS. Assisted migration of white pine into northern forests of MN. Current position: Resource Specialist, Summit Co. Open Spaces and Trails Department, Frisco, CO
2016 - Laura Kavajecz. IBS MS. Adaptive forestry in the northern forests of MN: A test of assisted migration. Current position: Science teacher, grades 9-12, Ashland, WI
2015 - Matt Jahnke. IBS MS. Autonomous self-fertilization and limited outcrossing in Linum sulcatum. Current position:, UMD
2014 - Ada Tse. IBS MS. Differences among cytotypes of Solidago altissima in response to a common invasive species Tanacetum vulgare. Current position: Research Assistant, Environmental Services, Superior, WI
2013 - Katie Winkler. IBS MS. Physiological response to drought among different ploidy levels of Solidago altissima, Current position: MN Department of Natural Resources, Bemidji, MN
2013 - Jessalyn Sabin (Toldo), IBS MS. Timing of flowering influences disease dynamics in a polyploid species. Current position: President of North College, six campuses across the Iron Range region
2009 - Tim McAulay. Biology Graduate Program MS. Clinal variation in Solidago altissima across a biome border. Previous position: (deceased) Biology Instructor, Inver Hills Community College, Minneapolis, MN
2008 - Kyle Snell. IBS MS. Endopolyploidy and plant functional traits. Current position: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
2007 - Jessica Kirshbaum (Grochowski). Biology MS. The distribution of ploidy levels of Solidago altissima in MN and its relationship to a climate gradient across a biome border. Current position: National Park Service Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network, Ashland, WI
2006 - Rebecca Holmstrom (Anderson). Biology MS. Ammophila breviligulata: Implications of using non-local plant sources for native plant restorations in MN. Co-advised with Dr. David Schimpf. Current position: Botanist, MN Department of Natural Resources, Duluth, MN
Family/Hobbies
I enjoy camping, hiking, canoeing, botanzing, and birding with my husband, Matt Etterson and silversmithing.