Graduate Student Email: rthoen@uga.edu Curriculum Vitae: thoenCV_Feb2025 - Riley Thoen.pdf (162.62 KB) Lab: DeMarche Lab | Miller Plant Sciences Biography I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia in the DeMarche lab. My research focuses on three primary questions: Does habitat patchiness affect plant reproduction and viability?How does climate change (e.g., drought and warming) alter plant phenotype and fitness? How do habitat patchiness and climate change together influence persistence of native plant populations?I am answering these questions in naturally patchy populations of Porter's sunflower (Helianthus porteri) on granite outcrops of the Piedmont plateau in Georgia. Previously, I studied effects of anthropogenic fragmentation in tall grass prairies with the Echinacea Project. Research Research Areas: Ecology & Global Change Evolutionary Biology Grants: 2021 Research Teaching and Outreach award, UGA Plant Biology Graduate Association, "Disentangling the roles of demographic and genetic processes towards the persistence of plant populations in a changing climate" 2017 Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research Award, Sigma Xi Gustavus Adolphus College, "Investigating compensatory photosynthesis in response to simulated herbivory" Selected Publications Selected Publications: Hanson, D, RD Thoen, J Beck, SW Nordstrom, KE Muller, & S Wagenius. 2020. EchinaceaLab. R package. https://github.com/stuartWagenius/echinaceaLab Kiefer, G, RD Thoen, & S Wagenius. 2020. exPt 1 Core. The Echinacea Project. Dataset. http://echinaceaproject.org/datasets/expt1-core/ Education Education: Admission to the PhD program in Plant Bioloigy at the University of Georgia, 2020. B.A. Honors Biology, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN, 2019. Other Information Other Affiliations: Riley Thoen | Weebly Website
