Profile for Adam Schneider

Adam Schneider, Biology, authored the article "Photosynthetic activity in the heterotrophic plant genus Cuscuta is modulated by phylogeny and ontogeny" in "Annals of Botany," published on Aug. 26 by Oxford University Press. By measuring chlorophyll fluorescence and pigment concentrations, Schneider and his team showed that for most dodders, a diverse group of parasitic plants reliant on host plants for their survival, photosynthesis is not vestigial. Instead, they retain localized photosynthetic capability in tissues with higher energetic needs, such as shoot tips and developing seeds.

Submitted on: Sept. 2

Maria Jerabek and Elena Kozich, biology students; and Adam Schneider, biology faculty member, were interviewed by WEAU on May 6 about a course embedded research project in Schneider's Plant Taxonomy class where students used DNA barcoding to identify tree roots that had infiltrated the concrete liner of the La Crosse city reservoir on Grandad Bluff.

Submitted on: May 7

Adam Schneider, Biology, co-authored the article "Same data, different analysts: variation in effect sizes due to analytical decisions in ecology and evolutionary biology" in BMC Biology published on Feb. 6. In this study, 174 analyst teams found strikingly variable answers to pre-specified research questions using the same sets of data, demonstrating diversity in analytical decision-making while shedding light on potential sources of unreliability and bias in scientific processes. The results align with growing recognition that the many choices researchers must make—such as which statistical methods to apply—can lead to divergent conclusions even when the different options are all reasonable. The authors hope their findings will encourage individual researchers, institutions, funding agencies, and journals to support initiatives aimed at improving research rigor, ultimately strengthening the reliability of scientific knowledge.

Submitted on: Feb. 8

Adam Schneider, Biology, authored the article "Multiple genotypes of Phelipanche ramosa indicate repeated introduction to the Americas" in the "American Journal of Botany," published on Jan. 6. This research, aided by student Ellie Euler, and funded by a UWL faculty research grant and private industry support, used genetic analysis to show that disjunct populations of an economically-damaging plant pathogen reflect four independent introductions from Eurasia to Chile, California, Virginia, and the southern U.S., respectively. These results will help inform containment efforts and industry practices. This research previously received local media coverage on WEAU and Spectrum One.  

Submitted on: Jan. 9

Adam Schneider, Biology, co-authored the article "Two New Species of Aphyllon from Northeastern Mexico" in Systematic Botany published on Dec. 23, 2023, by American Society of Plant Taxonomists. Schneider and two co-authors published descriptions of two new and rare parasitic plant species from Mexico.

Submitted on: Jan. 3, 2024