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 Selected Publications Selected Publications: 5) Thoen, RD, LB Hendricks, GT Bailes, BR Johnson, LE Pfeifer-Meister, PB Reed, BA Roy, and ML DeMarche. 2024. Spatiotemporal variation in population dynamics of a narrow endemic, Ranunculus austro-oreganus. American Journal of Botany 112(1):e16466. Link 4) Thoen, RD, A Southgate, G Kiefer, RG Shaw, and S Wagenius. 2024. The conservation significance of small population remnants: variability in inbreeding depression and heterosis of a perennial herb, the narrow-leaved purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia). Journal of Heredity 16(1):24-33. Link3) Waananen, A, LK Richardson, RD Thoen, SW Nordstrom, EG Eichenberger, G Kiefer, AB Dykstra, RG Shaw, and S Wagenius. 2024. High juvenile mortality overwhelms benefits of mating potential for reproductive fitness. The American Naturalist 203(6):E188-E199. Link2) Richardson, LK, SW Nordstrom, A Waananen, RD Thoen, AB Dykstra, G Kiefer, DE Mullett, EG Eichenberger, RG Shaw, and S Wagenius. 2024. Juvenile survival increases with dispersal distance and varies across years: 15 years of evidence in a prairie perennial. Ecology e4331. Link1) Zettlemoyer, MA, SL Ellis, CW Hale, EC Horne, RD Thoen, and ML DeMarche. 2022. Limited evidence for phenological differences between non-native and native species. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10:983172. Link Education Education: Admission to the PhD program in Plant Bioloigy at the University of Georgia, 2021. B.A. Honors Biology, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN, 2019. Other Information Other Affiliations: Riley Thoen | Weebly Website
