Director, Genomics Core Facility
Molecular Geneticist
Email: ralyman@clemson.edu
Dr. Rachel Lyman
Biosketch
I graduated from Knox College in 2012 with a BA in Biology and Dance Studies. My first lab experience was as a Research Assistant and Research Technician in Dr. Trudy Mackay’s and Dr. Robert Anholt’s lab at NC State University for working on a variety of projects but focusing on sleep behavior in mutation accumulation lines of Drosophila melanogaster. In 2021 I received my PhD in Evolution, Ecology, and Population Biology from Washington University in St. Louis in conjunction with the Missouri Botanical Garden and advised by Dr. Christine Edwards. My dissertation was on the conservation and phylogeography of endemic plants (Trifolium calcaricum and Viola egglestonii) found in limestone cedar glades in the Central Tennessee Basin. I received the Garden Club of America Catherine H. Beattie Fellowship in Conservation Horticulture (2019) and Botanical Society of America Graduate Student Research Award (2019) for this research.
Research
I’m excited to be back in the land of Drosophila, reference genomes, and known organism ploidy! My research has previously involved elucidating patterns of evolutionary history and phylogeography in closely related species complexes using next-generation DNA sequencing. I’m eager to learn more about using genomic techniques to better understand human disease.
Publications
Lyman, R.A. and C. Edwards. IN PREP. Comparative Phylogeography in Southeastern North America: 10 Years of Patterns and Progress.
Morozova, T. V., Y. Hussain, L. J. McCoy, E. V. Zhirnov, M. R. Davis, V. A. Pray, R. A. Lyman, L. H. Duncan, A. McMillien, A. Jones, T. F. C. Mackay, and R. R. H. Anholt. 2018. A Cyclin E Centered Genetic Network Contributes to Alcohol Induced Variation in Drosophila Development. G3 8:2643-2653.
Carbone, M. A., A. Yamamoto, W. Huang, R. A. Lyman, T. B. Meadors, R. Yamamoto, R. R. H. Anholt, and T. F. C. Mackay. 2016. Genetic architecture of natural variation in visual senescence in Drosophila. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113:E6620–E6629.
Huang, W., R. F. Lyman, R. A. Lyman, M. A. Carbone, S. T. Harbison, M. M. Magwire, and T. F. C. Mackay. 2016. Spontaneous mutations and the origin and maintenance of quantitative genetic variation. eLife 5:1–23.