Kristy L. Duran, PhD

Assistant Professor of Biology

Office: 210 Porter Hall
Phone (719)587-7767
klduran@adams.edu

Education:

  • B.S. University of New Mexico
  • M.S. Colorado State University
  • Ph.D. University of Colorado, Boulder
  • National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Bowdoin College, ME

Courses Taught

  • Introductory Biology
  • General Biology
  • Plant Physiology
  • Plant Ecology
  • Vascular Plant Systematics
  • Mycology

Advising

  • General Biology
  • Plant Biology / Ecology
  • Natural Resources

Research Interests

My research interests focus on parasitic plant – host relationships at the molecular, physiological and ecological levels. Study organisms include dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium sp.), their hosts, Phoradendron juniperinum and its host, Juniper.

Projects include: examining genetic differentiation within species to determine the effects of host selection on mistletoe populations; examining effects of mistletoe infection on the host's water use efficiency; and determining whether mistletoe infection affects growth, cone and seed production of the host.

Selected Publications

  • Duran KL, Pardo, A, Mitton JB. 2012. From middens to molecules: phylogeography of the piñon pine, Pinus edulis. Journal of Biogeography. In Press
  • Mitton JB, Duran KL. 2004. Genetic variation in Piñon Pine, Pinus edulis associated with summer precipitation. Molecular Ecology 13(5): 1259-1264
  • DuranKL, Lowery T, Parmenter RR, Lewis PO. 2005 Genetic diversity in Chihuahuan Desert populations of creosotebush (Zygophyllaceae: Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coville). American Journal of Botany 92 (4): 722-729
  • Marinesco S, Duran KL, Wright WG. 2003 Evolution of learning in three aplysiid species: differences in heterosynaptic plasticity contrast with conservation in serotonergic pathways . J Physiol-London 550 (1): 241-253