Congratulations to Naomi and Ryo, former pre-doctoral fellows  who completed requirements for their Ph.D.'s this spring after several field seasons at the lab.

They join a distinguished list of our Japanese collaborators which includes Dr. Shoichi Kawano, a Smithsonian Regents Fellow appointed 2 decades ago. Their professor, Hiroshi Kudoh, was a student of Dr. Kawano's and organized several field trips to the States before he and his wife Yumi joined the plant lab as a post doctoral fellow. 

Dr. Naomi Hosaka Tokyo Metropolitan University Thesis: Ramet dynamics for persistence of the clonal understory tree, Asimina triloba, under shade and local disturbances caused by canopy trees.

Dr. Ryouji Shimamura Tokyo Metropolitan University Thesis: Processes of genetic structuring through pollen and seed dispersal in Hibiscus moscheutos populations.