Distinguished Research Professor: 

Robert Schmitz, professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Genetics, is a leader in plant epigenomics, developing genome-wide approaches to understand how chemical modifications to DNA shape gene regulation. His research maps and interprets epigenomic variation within and between plant species and examines how these regulatory features influence development, adaptation and evolution in plants. Schmitz is widely recognized for discovering how epigenomic differences arise, are inherited and interact with genetic variation to affect complex traits. By innovating epigenomic technologies and computational methods, his work has transformed how scientists study gene regulation beyond DNA sequence alone. His discoveries have important implications for agriculture and evolutionary biology, informing strategies to improve crop performance, resilience and stability through epigenome-informed breeding and biotechnology. Supported by major federal funding and published in leading journals, Schmitz’s research has helped establish epigenomics as a central framework for understanding plant genome function.

Creative Research Medals:

Jill Anderson, professor in the Odum School of Ecology and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is recognized for a groundbreaking long-term research project investigating the ecological and evolutionary consequences of changing climate patterns in natural plant populations. For more than a decade, Anderson has led one of the world’s most ambitious field experiments testing whether plant populations harbor sufficient genetic variation to adapt to rapidly changing environments. Using the Rocky Mountain wildflower Boechera stricta, her project integrates common garden experiments, climatic manipulations of temperature and snowpack, and quantitative genetic and genomic analyses across an elevational gradient. This work has produced insight into how changing climates alter natural selection, disrupt local adaptation and constrain evolutionary rescue. Anderson demonstrated that adaptation and gene flow are insufficient to prevent population declines under projected climates, even in widespread species. By linking evolutionary processes to demographic outcomes, her project has reshaped understanding of extinction risk and informed conservation strategies, including the potential need for assisted migration under accelerating climate change.