Lauren Eserman, Ph.D.
Research areas: Evolutionary biology, conservation genetics, phylogenomics
As the Research Coordinator in the Conservation & Research Department, Dr. Eserman manages the Garden's ongoing research in evolutionary biology and conservation genetics. Dr. Eserman's background in plant systematics and genomics drives her interest in understanding evolutionary relationships among plant populations and species. Dr. Eserman heads the Garden's Conservation Genetics lab in addition to advising students interested in engaging in conservation biology research. She works on a wide variety of projects from orchids to rare and endangered plants of the Southeast to morning glories.
Lauren received her BS and MS degrees in Biological Sciences from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2009 and 2012, respectively. While at Southeastern, her research encompassed taxonomic, phylogenetic, and population genetic studies of morning glories in the genus Ipomoea. She earned her PhD from the University of Georgia in 2017, where she worked to understand the evolutionary relationships among sweetpotato and its wild relatives and the genetic mechanisms underlying storage root formation.