McLachlan Lab

Welcome!  Research in the McLachlan Lab focuses on the dynamics of plant populations faced with large scale environmental change.  The abundance, distribution and, in many cases, survival of species in the next century will be shaped by an unprecedented combination of human land-use, climate change, and changing atmospheric chemistry. Anticipating these trends is difficult, but we can often gain insight by examining how populations have responded to similar environmental perturbations in the past.  Evidence for past population shifts comes from the physical traces individuals leave behind (in paleoecological data such as fossil pollen in sediments and tree-rings) and from the genetic structures of modern and past populations.  The McLachlan Lab gathers these fragmentary records of population change and links them to environmental and biological processes using statistical models.  Explore our research, lab members, and publications pages to learn more about us and the work we do.

Job Opportunities – Find details at: https://sites.nd.edu/paleolab/opportunities/

1. Postdoctoral Appointment to Lead the Development of Undergraduate Environmental Data Science Education – Application reviews will start April 17, 2023

Congratulations to our lab!

• 2023-05-04: Congratulations to Ian Shuman for presenting his poster on “Modeling the Historical Vegetation-Environment Relationship in the Midwestern United States” at the College of Science Joint Annual Meeting.
• 2023-03-31: Congratulations to Megan Vahsen for winning the 2023 Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Graduate School Award in Science at the University of Notre Dame.
  The Shaheen Award recognizes one outstanding graduate student from each of the four
  divisions of the Graduate School, and is a recognition of Megan’s research excellence in the field of biological sciences, your extraordinary publication record, and your deep commitment to service, mentorship, and teaching. The Shaheen Award signifies that Megan represents the very best in the graduating class in your division in the Graduate School.
• 2023-02-24: Congratulation’s to Megan Vahsen for the successful defense of her PhD dissertation!
• 2023-01-26: Megan Vahsen’s paper “Rapid plant trait evolution can alter coastal wetland resilience to sea level rise” was published in Science https://www.science.org/stoken/author-tokens/ST-985/full and highlighted by Notre Dame News
• 2022-11-18: Congratulation’s to Helena Kleiner who successfully defended her Master’s Thesis!
• See other lab successes HERE