James B. Beck PhD

Academic Interests and Expertise

I’m a plant systematist, and the main goals of systematics are clarifying biodiversity and reconstructing the evolutionary events that produced it.

Areas of Research Interest

Much of my research includes clarifying biodiversity at or below the species scale.  This could include projects like: 1) testing the hypothesis that a rare species constitutes a “real” evolutionary lineage or 2) documenting the presence and distribution of cytotypes or asexual lineages within a species.  Many of my projects involve widespread species, and in these cases obtaining DNA from large sets of herbarium specimens is key.

Areas of Teaching Interest

Evolution (BIOL 417)

How Evolution Explains the Living World (BIOL 360)

Computing for Biologists (BIOL 740D)

General Ecology (BIOL 418)

General Biology II (BIOL 211)

Vascular Plants (BIOL 502)

Publications

(previous 3 years)

• Holt, S. D., and J. B. Beck. 2023. Genetic diversity and hybrid origin of an invasive population of Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) in Wichita, Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 126: 199-207.
• Bartlett, K. B., M. W. Austin, J. B. Beck, A. E. Zanne, and A. B. Smith. 2023. Beyond the usual climate? Factors determining flowering and fruiting phenology across a genus over 117 years. American Journal of Botany
• Beck, J. B., K. M. Fehlberg, and S. D. Fehlberg. 2023. Genomic and morphological assessment of the status of Kuenzler’s hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri). Conservation Genetics 24: 755-765.
• Semple, J. C., H. McMinn-Sauder, M. Stover, A. R. Lemmon, E. M. Lemmon, and J. B. Beck. 2023. Goldenrod herbariomics: Hybrid-sequence capture reveals the phylogeny of Solidago (Asteraceae). American Journal of Botany
• Holt, S. D., E. M. Sigel, B. L. Sutherland, P. B. Schwartsburd, and J. B. Beck. 2023. What is Salvinia molesta (Salviniaceae)? Determining the maternal progenitor and genetic diversity of the clonal invasive fern giant salvinia. Biological Invasions 25: 2131-2141.
• Hawkinson, B. P., and J. B. Beck. 2022. The flora of Mead Island (Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas). Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 125: 149-158.
• Beck, J. B., M. L. Markley, M. G. Zielke, J. R. Thomas, H. J. Hale, L. D. Williams, and M. G. Johnson. 2022. Are Palmer’s elm-leaf goldenrod and the smooth elm-leaf goldenrod real? The Angiosperms353 kit provides within-species signal in Solidago ulmifolia s.l. Systematic Botany 46: 1107-1113.
• Sutherland, B. L., C. F. Barrett, J. B. Beck, M. Latvis, M. R. McKain, E. M. Sigel, and N. J. Kooyers. 2021. Botany is the root and the future of invasion biology. American Journal of Botany 108: 549-552.
• C. Semple, and J. B. Beck. 2021. Revised infrageneric classification of Solidago (Asteraceae: Astereae). Phytoneuron 2021-10: 1-6.

Professional Experience

• 2019 – present — Associate Professor, Wichita State University
• 2014 – present — Research Associate, Botanical Research Institute of Texas
• 2013 – 2019 — Assistant Professor, Wichita State University
• 2011 – 2013 — Research Assistant Professor, Wichita State University
• 2010 – 2011 — Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• 2007 – 2010 — Postdoctoral Research Associate, Duke University
• 1999 – 2000 — Research Assistant, University of Tennessee Herbarium

Grants

Wichita State University Award for Research/Creative Projects in Summer (ARCS) (2023) ” Is Oklahoma Phlox real? A phylogenetic and population genetic analysis of the Kansas/Oklahoma endemic plant Phlox oklahomensis.” ($3,978)

Genome Sequencing Voucher, University of Kansas Genome Sequencing Core (2020) ($5,193)

NSF EPSCoR RII Track-2 FEC (2019) “Consortium for Plant Invasion Genomics (CPING): Combining Big Data and Plant Collections to Understand Invasiveness.” ($3.8 million total; $186,068 to WSU)

Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (K-INBRE) Bioinformatics Core Facility Award (2017) “Advancing genomics/bioinformatics research and instruction in the biological sciences at Wichita State.” ($18,359)

Wichita State University Award for Research/Creative Projects in Summer (ARCS) (2017) “Combining big data and big sampling: developing innovative methods for establishing plant biodiversity.” ($2,915)

NSF Division of Environmental Biology (2016) “Phylogenomic analyses of goldenrods (Solidago, Asteraceae) using herbarium specimens.” ($149,011)

Additional Information