Janis Antonovics

Janis Antonovics studies the evolution and dynamics of natural plant populations. His early work on the evolution of tolerance to heavy metals established the relative roles of selection and gene flow in population differentiation and speciation. His experimental studies in natural plant populations established a direct evolutionary advantage for sexual versus asexual reproduction.

His current research is on the role of infectious disease in determining species range limits, co-evolutionary dynamics, and the ecology and evolution of sexually transmitted diseases. He combines theoretical modeling, the analysis of data sets involving organisms ranging from plants to bumblebees and humans, and experimental and fieldwork focused on disease in natural plant populations. He has a strong historical interest in the germ theory of disease.

Janis is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, former President of both the Society for the Study of Evolution and the American Society of Naturalists, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Humboldt awardee.