Dr. Kenneth Sytsma

Dr. Ken Sytsma teaches our Field Botany course at the Great Lakes Campus during Summer Session I. He is currently a Professor of Botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has taught since 1985.

He served as Acting Director of the University of Wisconsin Herbarium (1993-1997), Acting Director of the Wisconsin State Herbarium (2006-2007), chair of the Botany Department (1998-2001), chair of the Biology major (2004-2008), and Associate Editor of the Journal of Botany (2008-present). Ken received his B.S. in Biology from Calvin College. He then earned his M.A. in Botany and Ecology from Western Michigan University and his Ph.D. in Systematic and Evolutionary Biology from Washington University (St. Louis). His research interests include the phylogenetics of flowering plants; floristics and biogeography of Great Lakes flora; adaptive radiations of island, tepui, and Andean flora; molecular and morphological evolution of Myrtales, Ericales, Brassicales, Combretaceae, Cappridaceae, Bromeliaceae, Rapateaceae, Loneliaceae; biogeography of disjunctions; phylogeography of rare or invasive species; pollination biology; and theory of evolution - biological, philosophical, and religious implications.