Courses:
Organisms
(BIO 114),
Morphology and Anatomy of Vascular Plants (BIO 340), Field Botany (BIO
386), Morphology of Nonvascular Plants (BIO 470), Systematics of
Vascular Plants (Bio 486).
Research
Interests: Pollination
Biology and Plant Systematics.
One of my favorite areas of investigation involves
the study of
Galápagos Islands angiosperms (flowering plants) and their
pollinators. Most recently, this work has focused on a study of
nocturnal pollinators. Research on the pollen-ovule ratios and pollen
size of selected Galápagos plants is also being conducted.
I also have students involved in research dealing
with the systematics of Galápagos angiosperms. Currently, we are
conducting a taxonomic revision of the endemic members of Cordia (Boraginaceae) in the
Galápagos. These endemics are an example of the classic
island phenomenon known as adaptive radiation.
Another project in which I'm currently involved is
a survey of the
vascular plants of Rockingham County. During the summer of 2002, one of
my research students and I began updating the list of plants indigenous
to this county. The last time Rockingham was studied in detail was when
I conducted a similar survey for my M.S. degree here at JMU. The
information gathered will assure that our records are up to date.
Interested students may contribute to this field of study by conducting
similar studies on other counties in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
(Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Page, Shenandoah, and Warren). Cataloging
the plants in this historic valley is the ultimate aim. Such
information will also be useful for the Flora of Virginia
Project, which is now in the works.
Selected
Publications:
McMullen, C.K. 2007. Pollination biology of the
Galápagos endemic, Tournefortia
rufo-sericea (Boraginaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean
Society 153: 21-31.
McMullen, C.K., M.D. Peters, and L.M. Hill. 2005.
An Updated Survey of
the Vascular Flora of Rockingham County, Virginia. Castanea 70: 63-69.
Magee, J., C.K. McMullen, J.K. Reaser, E. Spitzer,
S. Struve, C. Tufts,
A. Tye and G. Woodruff. 2001. Green invaders of the Galápagos
Islands. Science 294: 1279-1280.
McMullen, C.K. and W.J. Elisens. 2000. Variation
in the
Galápagos shrub snapdragon: Is there another subspecies of Galvezia
leucantha?. Noticias de Galápagos 61: 21-22.
McMullen, C.K. 1999. Flowering plants of the
Galápagos. Cornell
University Press. Ithaca, New York.
|
