J. Dan Skean, Jr.
Professor Emeritus
B.S., Western Kentucky University, 1980
M.S., North Carolina State University, 1982
Ph.D., University of Florida, 1989
Appointed: 1988
Expertise Areas: plant systematics, Melastomataceae, floristics
Current Courses:
Biology 195: Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity
Biology 206: Tropical Forest & Reef Biology
Biology 207: Biology of Subtropical Florida
Biology 216: Vascular Plants
LA101: Plants and Human Affairs
Research Interests:
Dr. Dan Skean is interested in the systematics of angiosperms, i.e., the classification and evolutionary relationships of flowering plants, especially those belonging to the family Melastomataceae. Skean has conducted floristic inventories in the eastern U.S. and Caribbean, and has current research projects in southern Michigan and on the island of Hispaniola. Skean’s research involves data from many sources–morphology, anatomy, and field ecological studies, which are used in computer-assisted phenetic and cladistic analyses to estimate phylogeny, i.e., evolutionary history. Presently Skean is studying the systematics of the genus Calycogonium DC. Incorporating data from diverse approaches, Skean’s research makes many different undergraduate projects possible.
Selected publications:
Judd, W.S, J.D. Skean, Jr., Clase, T., and G. M. Ionta. 2008. Taxonomic studies in the Miconieae (Melastomataceae). IX. Calycogonium formonense, a new species from the Massif de la Hotte, Haiti.Brittonia 60: 265-270.
Michelangeli, F.A., W.S. Judd, D.S. Penneys, J.D. Skean, Jr., E.R. Becquer, R. Goldenberg, and C.V. Martin. 2008. Multiple events of dispersal and radiation of the tribe Miconieae (Melastomataceae) in the Caribbean. Bot. Rev. 74: 53-77.
Skean, J.D. Jr., W.S. Judd, T. Clase, and B. Peguero. 2010. Calycogonium bairdianum (Melastomataceae: Miconieae), a new species from the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. Brittonia 62(3): 210-14.