Lova Marline
I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Farlow Herbarium within OEB, working with the Davis Lab. I am broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of lower land plants, especially on tropical islands and mountains. My main taxonomic interest and favorite plants are bryophytes, particularly liverworts, which remain among the least documented components of the world’s flora. I completed my PhD at the University of Cape Town. My dissertation examined the factors influencing epiphytic bryophyte diversity and distribution along elevational gradients in Madagascar. Between 2019 and 2020, I was a postdoc and part-time lecturer at the University of Cape Town. I studied bryophyte edaphic specialization and dispersal ability in Madagascar’s dry and arid regions. From 2021 to 2023, I joined the Antonelli Lab at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to study the diversity and distribution of bryophytes in Madagascar’s high mountains. At Harvard, my research focuses on bryophyte biogeography, particularly the disjunct distributions between the Neotropics and Africa, using a collections-based approach. I use herbarium specimens to document species occurrences, resolve taxonomic uncertainties, and analyze species distribution patterns. My goal is to understand the historical and ecological processes that have shaped these intercontinental distributions of bryophytes.
The Salata Institute
The Salata Institute supports interdisciplinary research that leads to real-world action, including high-risk/high-reward projects by researchers already working in the climate area and new endeavors that make it easier for Harvard scholars, who have not worked on climate problems, to do so. Faculty interested in the Climate Research Clusters program should note an upcoming deadline for concepts on April 1, 2024.