Jacob Suissa
Website
Jacob Suissa
Assistant Professor
I grew up botanizing the humid wetlands of Maryland. I migrated to New England where I completed my B.S. in Plant Biology at The University of Vermont, and then my Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. As a classically trained botanist and evolutionary biologist, I study plant evolution through deep time and under global change. In addition to my research, I run the educational non-profit Let’s Botanize, with the goal of combating the climate and biodiversity crises by spreading a knowledge of, and appreciation for, plants.
Research Interest
CURRENTLY RECRUITING GRADUATE STUDENTS Plant evolution, plant morphology, plant ecophysiology
Education
B.S. University of Vermont
Ph.D Harvard University
Research
I am a plant evolutionary biologist focused on how plants construct their body, how they function, and how they have evolved across deep time. Broadly, I explore how diverse phenotypic traits evolved and function in a whole-plant context. I answer these questions using ferns, one of the oldest and most diverse groups of land plants. My research philosophy is that deep insights on the evolution of key innovations or diverse traits can be made by integrating comprehensive phylogenetic analyses across thousands of species, with targeted anatomical, physiological, genomic, and developmental investigation of key organisms.
Awards
NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship 2022–2023
Publications
Suissa, J.S., Agbleke, A.A., and Friedman, W.E. (2023). A bump in the node: the hydraulic implications of rhizomatous growth. American Journal of Botany. 110 (1). PDF
Suissa, J.S., Preisler, Y., Watkins, J.E., and McCulloch, L.A. (2022). Vulnerability Segmentation in Ferns and Its Implication on Their Survival During Drought. American Fern Journal. 112(4), 336–353 PDF
Suissa, J.S., and Friedman, W.E. (2022). Rapid diversification of vascular architecture underlies the Carboniferous fern radiation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 289: 20212209. PDF
Suissa, J.S. (2022) Fern fronds that move like pine cones: humidity-driven motion of fertile leaflets governs the timing of spore dispersal in a widespread fern species. Annals of Botany. 129(5), 519–528. PDF
Suissa, J.S., Kinosian, S.P., Schafran, P.W., Bolin, J, Taylor, W.C., Zimmer, E.A. (2022) Homoploid hybrids, allopolyploids, and high ploidy levels characterize the evolutionary history of a western North American quillwort (Isoëtes) complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.166 (107332). PDF
Suissa, J.S., and Friedman, W.E. (2021). From cells to stems: the effects of primary vascular construction on drought-induced embolism resistance in fern rhizomes. New Phytologist. 232(6), 2238-2253. PDF
Suissa, J.S., Sundue, M.A., Testo, W.L. (2021). Mountains, Climate and Niche Heterogeneity Explain Global Patterns of Fern Diversity. Journal of Biogeography. 48(6), 1296-1308. PDF
Suissa, J.S., Sundue, M.A. (2020). Diversity Patterns of Neotropical Ferns: Revisiting Tryon’s Centers of Richness and Endemism. American Fern Journal. 110(4), 211-232. PDF
Suissa, J.S. (2020) Polycyclic solenostele, a new synapomorphy for Pteris sect. Litobrochia. American Fern Journal. 110(3), 127-138. PDF
Suissa, J.S., and Green, W.A. (2020). CO2 starvation experiments provide support for the carbon-limited hypothesis on the evolution of CAM-like photosynthesis in Isoëtes. Annals of Botany. 127(1), 135-141. PDF.
Kinosian, S.P., and Suissa, J.S. (2020) The mothers of Pteridology. American Fern Journal. 110 (1), 3-19. PDF