The Namibian desert located in Namib-Naukluft Park is home to a myriad of plant species within the family Zygophyllaceae. This plant family is the focus of my dissertation project where I am interested in exploring the evolution of leaf succulence and using Zygophyllaceae as a model system. The range of succulence within the leaves varies across species from typical leaf morphology seemingly lacking any leaf succulence as in Bulnesia arborea to super succulent leaves as seen in Tetraena simplex.
To begin exploring this topic, I embarked on a journey from Gainesville, FL, to the Gobabeb Research Station in Namibia from February 17th to February 26th. The aim of this visit was to collect as many members of Zygophyllaceae in their natural habitat as possible and start the process of extracting both DNA and RNA in the molecular lab at Gobabeb. Isolating both DNA and RNA serve as a molecular starting point to pursue components within my project such as phylogeny reconstruction to better understand the evolutionary relationships between species and gain a deeper understanding of potential candidate genes associated with leaf succulence.
During my time at Gobabeb, I forged new collaborations with the on-site staff scientists as well as other PhD student collaborators who are performing their dissertation work at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. These collaborations are invaluable as the scientists are members within the scientific community who are either experts in their field or at a similar academic stage as myself. The expertise of these scientists at both Gobabeb and the University of Pretoria provided me with a deeper insight into my plant system. The Namibian desert was an incredible experience and unforgettable. I greatly appreciate the Florida Museum of Natural History in assisting me with the funding to travel to such an incredible place and supporting my dissertation project.