The lab of Oscar Vargas at Cal Poly Humboldt

Our lab is dedicated to document plant diversity and evolution. We combine elements of traditional botany (alpha taxonomy and morphometrics) with modern tools (next generation sequencing and comparative methods) to answer questions about the evolution of biodiversity hot-spots from the Amazon to the Californian Floristic Province (CFP).

PI: Oscar M Vargas

I am an Assistant Professor at Humboldt State University. My research focuses on understating spatio-temporal patterns of plant evolution in hot spots of plant diversity by incorporating phylogenomics, comparative phylogenetics, and biogeography.

A good part of this website is devoted to the systematics and evolution of the genera Diplostephium and Linochilus, which were my model organisms for my M.S. my Ph.D. dissertations. Please be aware that the genus Diplostephium has been split in two genera (61 species were transferred to Linochilus, see Vargas et al 2017, Vargas 2018, Saldivia et al. 2019). I am slowly making changes to the species lists and photos to reflect these taxonomical changes.

Download my CV.

Graduate Students:

Kale Levin McNeill

Kale is a graduate student and botanical illustrator interested in the taxonomy and conservation of the genus Viola in the CFP. Kale intends to resolve the taxonomy of rare, disjunct violet populations in Northern California using morphology and phylogenomics.

Ashely Dickinson

Ashley is a graduate student in the department of Natural Resources. Ashley is interested in the conservation genetics of rare plants and is currently working on Lathyrus biflorus, a species found only in Humboldt county.

Cameron Jones

Cameron is a graduate student interested in narrow endemic plants. Cameron is currently mapping plant ranges throughout the California Floristic Province. He is also planing on studying coastal species of Erysimum.

Heather Davis

Heather is a graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences. Her main interests include evolutionary history of plants in the California Floristic Province, morphology and anatomy of plants and agrostology. Heather will be focusing on the Silene hookeri complex of Northern California, looking at population genetics and speciation.

Anise Dellith-Moser

Anise is a graduate student in the department of biological sciences. Her interests include evolutionary biology, conservation, and population genetics. She is currently working with Lupinus constancei an endangered species found in Humboldt county. 

Zach Kinman

Zach is a graduate student in the Biological Sciences Department. He is interested in the evolution and speciation of Wyethia longicaulis, a rare plant found in Humboldt County.

Alumni:

Eli Allen

Master’s received on 2024. Eli studied budding speciation in the in the Sand Verbena genus, Abronia. He is currently a PhD student at UC Santa Cruz