In the fall of 2004, the Lab Management Committee welcomed two new members, Dr. Thorsten Lumbsch and Dr. Rick Ree. Both Dr. Ree and Dr. Lumbsch are recent hires in the Botany department and already have active molecular projects in the lab. Dr. Lumbsch is studying the evolution of fruiting bodies in lichenized ascomycetes and the phylogeography of cosmopolitan and bipolar lichen populations in Antarctica. Dr. Ree is examining the evolution of various angiosperm groups that have diversified in the Himalayan region, especially south-central China. Specifically, he is interested in morphological trait evolution, biogeography, and population structure for different groups of plants.