Vitae
George D. Weiblen
•Reed College, Portland, Oregon B.A. in Biology, 1992
•Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, A.M. in Biology, 1997, Ph.D. in Biology 1999
Professional Appointments
•Associate Professor (2006-present), Plant Biology Department, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
•Assisstant Professor (2001-2006), Plant Biology Department, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
•Curator of Plants (2001-present), Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
•Research Associate in Entomology and Botany (2000-present), National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
•Visiting Research Associate (1999-2001), Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
•Teaching Fellow (1994-1999), Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
•Resident Tutor (1995-1999), Assistant Senior Tutor (1998-1999), Kirkland House, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Grants
•Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Minnesota (2007) [Cannabis genetics]
•National Science Foundation, Ecology Program (2005-2008) [tropical plant/insect foodwebs]
•University of Minnesota, Hall Memorial Award in Plant Evolutionary Biology (2005) [Ficus phylogenetics]
•National Science Foundation, Ecology Program (2002-2005) [beta-diversity of caterpillars in tropical rain forests]
•National Science Foundation, Systematics Program (2002-2005) [systematics and evolution of Moraceae]
•Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Minnesota (2003) [Cannabis genetics]
•National Science Foundation, Biotic Surveys & Inventories Program (co-PI 2002) [Insect ecology in New Guinea]
•University of Minnesota, Civic Engagement Seed Grant, Bell Museum of Natural History (2001) [tropical rainforest research exhibit]
•National Science Foundation, Dissertation Improvement Grant (co-PI, 1998-1999) [systematics of dioecious figs and their pollinators]
•Harvard University Herbaria, Fernald Fund (1997) [botanical collecting in Indonesia]
•Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate Student Research Grant (1996) [botanical collecting in Papua New Guinea]
•Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Deland Award for Research on Woody Plants (1995) [Ph.D. thesis research on Ficus in Papua New Guinea]
•American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Travel Grant (1995) [botanical collecting in Papua New Guinea]
Fellowships
•McKnight Presidential Fellowship, University of Minnesota (2006-2009)
•McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, University of Minnesota (2005-2007)
•David and Lucille Packard Foundation, Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering (2002-2006) [biodiversity]
•National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Training Fellowship in Plant Systematics (1997) [phylogenetics]
•National Science Foundation, Predoctoral Fellowship (1994-1996) [graduate studies at Harvard University]
•Thomas Watson Foundation, Travel Fellowship (1992-1993) [tropical botany of the Indo-Pacific Islands]
Distinctions
•Pinhead Scholar, Pinhead Institute (2004-2005)
•Publisher's Award, Society of Systematic Biologists (2002)
•Young Investigator's Award, American Society of Naturalists (2001)
•Ernst Mayr Award; Society of Systematic Biologists (1999)
•Garden Club of America, Award in Tropical Botany (1997)
•Derek Bok Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Harvard University (1995-1996)
•Phi Beta Kappa, Reed College, Oregon Chapter (1992)
Teaching Experience
•PBIO8993: Phylogenetic Analysis (2002, 2005, 2007)
•PBIO4511: Flowering Plant Systematics (2002, 2004, 2006)
•Instructor at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory: Field Botany (2001-2007)
Field Experience:
•Papua New Guinea, Australia, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Venezuela, Brazil, French Guyana, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, USA
Professional organizations
•American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Naturalists, American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Botanical Society of America, Phi Beta Kappa, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Society for Systematic Biologists, Society for the Study of Evolution
Scientific Referee
•American Journal of Botany, The American Naturalist, Biological Reviews, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Brittonia, Ecology, Ecological Monographs, Evolution, Journal of Tropical Ecology, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Plant Physiology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Systematic Biology, Science, Taxon, Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Publications (download .pdfs)
Weiblen, G., H. Spencer and B. Flick. 1995. Seed set and wasp predation in dioecious Ficus variegata from an Australian wet tropical forest. Biotropica 27 , 391-394.
Weiblen, G. D. and J. D. Thomson. 1995. Seed dispersal in Erythronium grandiflorum . Oecologia 102 , 211-219.
Weiblen, G. D. and B. G. Brehm. 1996. Reproductive strategies and barriers to hybridization in Tellima grandiflora and Tolmeia menziesii (Saxifragaceae). American Journal of Botany 83 , 910-918.
Spencer, H., G. Weiblen and B. Flick. 1996. Phenology of Ficus variegata in a seasonal wet tropical forest at Cape Tribulation, Australia. Journal of Biogeography 23 , 467-476.
Thomson, J. D., G. Weiblen, B. A. Thomson, S. Alfaro and P. Legendre. 1996. Untangling multiple factors in spatial distributions: lilies, gophers, and rocks. Ecology 77 , 1698-1715.
Johnson, J. F., D. L. Allan, C. P. Vance and G. Weiblen. 1996. Root carbon dioxide fixation by phosphorus-deficient Lupinus albus . Plant Physiology 112 , 19-30.
Weiblen, G. D. 1998. Forest composition and structure of a one hectare plot in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Papua New Guinea. Science in New Guinea 24 , 23-32.
Laman, T. and G. Weiblen. 1998. Figs of Gunung Palung National Park (West Kalimantan, Indonesia). Tropical Biodiversity 5 , 245-297.
Weiblen, G. D. 1999. Phylogeny and ecology of dioecious fig pollination. Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University.
Weiblen, G. D. 2000. Phylogenetic relationships of functionally dioecious Ficus (Moraceae) based on ribosomal DNA sequence variation and morphology. American Journal of Botany 87 , 1342-1357.
Weiblen, G. D., R. K. Oyama and M. J. Donoghue. 2000. Phylogenetic analysis of dioecy in monocotyledons. The American Naturalist 155 , 46-58.
van Achterberg, C., and G. D. Weiblen. 2000. Ficobracon brusi gen. nov. & spec. nov. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a parasitoid reared from figs in Papua New Guinea. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 74 , 51-55.
Weiblen, G. D. 2001. Phylogenetic relationships of dioecious fig pollinators (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences and morphology. Systematic Biology 50 , 243-267.
Weiblen, G. D., D. Yu and S. A. West. 2001. Parasitism and pollination in functionally dioecious figs. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 268 , 651-659.
Lopez-Vaamonde, C., J.-Y. Rasplus, G. Weiblen, and J. M. Cook. 2001. DNA-based phylogenies of fig wasps: partial co-cladogenesis between pollinators and parasites. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41 , 55-71.
Weiblen, G. D. 2002. How to be a fig wasp. Annual Review of Entomology 47 , 299-330.
Weiblen, G, D. and Bush, G. L. 2002. Speciation in fig pollinators and parasites. Molecular Ecology 11 , 1573-1578.
Novotny, V., Y. Basset, S. E. Miller, G. D. Weiblen,, B. Bremer, L. Cizek and P. Drozd. 2002. Low host specificity of herbivorous insects in a tropical forest. Nature 416 , 841-844.
Novotny, V., S. E. Miller, L. Cizek, J. Leps, M. Janda, Y. Basset, and G. D. Weiblen. 2003. Colonising aliens: caterpillars (Lepidoptera) feeding on Piper aduncum and P. umbellatum in rainforests of Papua New Guinea. Ecological Entomology 28 , 704-716.
Zerega, N. J. C., L. A. Mound, and G. D. Weiblen. 2004. Pollination in the New Guinea endemic Antiaropsis decipiens (Moraceae) is mediated by a new species of thrips, Thrips antiaropsidis spec. nov. (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 165 , 1017-1026.
Yu, D., J. Ridley, E. Jousselin, E. A. Herre, S. G. Compton, J. M. Cook, J. C. Moore, and G. D. Weiblen. 2004. Optimal foraging, host coercion, and the stable exploitation of figs by wasps. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 271 , 1185-1195.
Weiblen, G. D. 2004. Correlated evolution in fig pollination. Systematic Biology 128 , 128-139.
Novotny, V., S. E. Miller, J. Leps, Y. Basset, D. Bito, M. Janda, J. Hulcr et al. 2004. No tree an island: the plant-caterpillar food web of secondary rainforest in New Guinea. Ecology Letters 7 , 1090-1100.
Dumont, E. R., G. D. Weiblen, and J. R. Winklemann. 2004. Pollinator visitation and frugivore preferences in a dioecious fig. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20 , 233-238.
Datwyler, S. L., and G. D. Weiblen. 2004. On the origin of the fig: phylogenetic relationships of Moraceae from ndhF sequences. American Journal of Botany 91 , 767-777.
Basset, Y., V. Novotny, S. E. Miller, G. D. Weiblen, O. Missa, and A. J. A. Stewart. 2004. Conservation and biological monitoring of tropical forests: the role of parataxonomists. Journal of Applied Ecology 41 , 163-174.
Novotny, V. & G. D. Weiblen 2005. From communities to continents: beta-diversity of herbivorous insects. Annales Zoologici Fennici . 42 , 463-475
Novotny, V., S. E. Miller, Y. Basset, L. Cizek, B. Kaupa, J. Kua, and G. D. Weiblen. 2005. An altitudinal comparison of caterpillar (Lepidoptera) assemblages on Ficus trees in Papua New Guinea. Journal of Biogeography 32 , 1303-1314.
Rønsted, N., G. D. Weiblen, J. M. Cook, N. Salamin, C. A. Machado, and V. Savolainen. 2005. 60 million years of co-divergence in the fig-wasp symbiosis. Proceeding of the Royal Society of London Series B 272 , 2593-2599.
Zerega, N. J. C., W. L. Clement, S. L. Datwyler, and G. D. Weiblen. 2005. Biogeography and divergence times in the mulberry family (Moraceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37 , 402-416.
Datwyler, S. L., and G. D. Weiblen. 2006. Genetic variation in hemp and marijuana ( Cannabis sativa L.) according to amplified fragment length polymorphisms. Journal of Forensic Sciences . 51 , 371-375
Novotny, V., P. Drozd, S. E. Miller, M. Kulfan, M. Janda, Y. Basset, & G. D. Weiblen 2006. Why are there so many species of herbivorous insects in tropical rainforests? Science . 313 , 1115-1118
Weiblen, G. D., C. O. Webb, V. Novotny, Y. Basset, and S. E. Miller. 2006. Phylogenetic dispersion of host use in a tropical insect herbivore community. Ecology 87 , S62-S75
Weiblen, G. D. 2006. Author's response to commentary on Datwyler and Weiblen (2006). Journal of Forensic Sciences 51 , 1406.
Novotny, V., P. Drozd, S. E. Miller, M. Kulfan, M. Janda, Y. Basset, and G. D. Weiblen. 2007. Response to comment on "Why are there so many species of herbivorous insects in tropical rainforests?" Science 315 , 1666
Hulcr, J., S. E. Miller, G. P. Setliff, K. Darrow, P. Hebert, and G. D. Weiblen. Submitted. DNA barcoding confirms polyphagy in a generalist moth, Homona mermerodes (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Molecular Ecology Notes .
Novotny, V., S. E. Miller, Y. Basset, M. Janda, G. P. Setliff, J. Hulcr, A. J. A. Stewart, J. Auga, K. Molem, M. Manumbor, E. Tamtiai, M. Mogia, and G. D. Weiblen. In press. Low beta diversity of caterpillars in tropical forests. Nature .
Rønsted, N., G. D. Weiblen, W. L. Clement, N. J. C. Zerega, and V. Savolainen. In press. Reconstructing the phylogeny of figs (Ficus, Moraceae) to reveal the history of the fig-wasp mutualism. Symbiosis .
Weiblen, G. D., and W. L. Clement. In press. Flora Malesiana. Series I. Volume 17 parts 1 & 2. Edinburgh Journal of Botany
Unreviewed :
Weiblen, G. D. 2001. Plants and people in Papua New Guinea. Imprint 18 , 2-5.
Weiblen, G. D. 2003. News from New Guinea. Imprint 20 , 8.
Weiblen, G. D. 2004. An interactive key to New Guinea figs. http://geo.cbs.umn.edu/madangfigs/navikey.html .
Weiblen, G. D. and Deacon, N. 2004. An interactive key to the woody plants of Minnesota. http://geo.cbs.umn.edu/treekey/navikey.html .
Weiblen, G. D. 2005. News from New Guinea. Imprint 22 , 9.
CHAPTERS
Weiblen, G. D. 1996. Variation in reproductive success of gynodioecious figs and their pollinators in New Guinea. In D. S. Edwards [eds.], Tropical Rainforest Research , 283-289. Kluwer Press.
Basset, Y., V. Novotny and G. Weiblen. 1997. Ficus : a resource for arthropods in the tropics, with particular reference to New Guinea. In Forests and Insects: 18th Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society (ed E. Watt, N. E. Stork and M. Hunter), pp. 339-359. Academic Press, London.
Weiblen, G. D. 2003. Interspecific coevolution. In Nature Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. Nature Publishing Group, London. http://www.els.net .
Silvieus, S. I. , W. L. Clement & G. D. Weiblen,. In press. Cophylogeny of figs, pollinators, parasites and parasitoids, pp. In K. J. Tilmon (ed.), Specialization, Speciation, and Radiation: The Evolutionary Biology of Herbivorous Insects. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.
Weiblen, G. D. In press. Moraceae (Mulberry Family) in W. Takeuchi, ed. Ecology of Papua .
ABSTRACTS AND POSTERS
Datwyler, S. L., W. Clement, S. Swenson, and G. D. Weiblen. 2003 On the origin of figs: Phylogenetic relationships within Moraceae based on ndhF and 26S sequence data. American Journal of Botany 90 Supplement
Datwyler, S. L., Hubert, D. and G. D. Weiblen. 2003. Inflorescence evolution and the origin of a pollination mutualism in Moraceae. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists, Chico, California.
Swenson, S., Clement, W. L., Zerega, N. C., and G. D. Weiblen. 2003. Developing a phylogenetic framework for the Moraceae family based on plastic and nuclear sequence data. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Botanical Society of America in Mobile, Alabama.
Datwyler, S. L. and G. D. Weiblen. 2004. Assessing genetic variation in hemp (Cannabis sativa L. ) for mapping economically important traits. American Journal of Botany 91 Supplement
Zerega, N. J. C., W. L. Clement, S. L. Datwyler, and G. D. Weiblen. 2004. Biogeography of the mulberry family (Moraceae) based on chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Weiblen, G. D. 2004. Biogeography of the mulberry family (Moraceae) in Malesia. Sixth International Flora Malesiana Symposium, Los Banos, Philippines.
Weiblen, G. D. and N. Deacon. 2004. An online interactive key to the woody plants of Minnesota. American Journal of Botany 91 Supplement
Weiblen, G. D. and N. J. C. Zerega. 2004. Pollination in the New Guinea endemic Antiaropsis decipiens (Moraceae) is mediated by thrips. American Journal of Botany 91 Supplement
Weiblen, G. D., V. Novotny, Y. Basset, and S. E. Miller. 2004. Phylogenetic dispersion of host use in a tropical insect herbivore community. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Silvieus, S. I. and G. D. Weiblen. 2005. Exploring host specificity and species limits of non-pollinating fig wasps. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Blackwell, E., Silvieus, S. I., and G. D. Weiblen. 2005. Speciation of non-pollinating fig wasps. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Clement, W. L. and G. D. Weiblen. 2006. Phylogeny and floral volatile mimicry of figs and close relatives (Moraceae) Annual Meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists, Stony Brook, New York.
Rønsted, N., G. D. Weiblen, and V. Savolainen. 2006. A global five gene phylogeny of Ficus: Problems and Prospects. Annual Meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists, Stony Brook, New York.
Weiblen, G. D. 2006. Cophylogeny of figs, pollinators, parasites, and parasitoids. Annual Meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists, Stony Brook, New York.
Marks, D. M. L. Tian, R. Dixon, G. D. Weiblen. 2006 Analysis of the polyketide synthase gene family in Cannabis sativa . Society of Plant Biologists, Boston, Massachusetts.
Rønsted, N., G. D. Weiblen, V. Savolainen, and J. M. Cook. 2007. Phylogenetics and diversification of Ficus section Malvanthera in Australia andNew Guinea. Plant Biology, Chicago, Illinois.
