Dipl. Ing. (B.S.), 1994. Technische Fachhochschule Berlin, Germany. Thesis title: Pinus L. Subsektionen Balfourianae Engelmann und Rzedowskianae Carvajal- Biologische und gartenbauliche Aspekte.

M.S., 1997. Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. Thesis title: Biosystematics of Pinus krempfii Lecomte.

Ph.D. 2003. Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. Thesis title: Systematics of New World Ephedra L. (Ephedraceeae): Integrating morphological and molecular data.

Awards:

2003-2005 Boyd Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Field Museum

2003 Michael Cichan Memorial Award, Department of Plant Biology, Arizona State University

2002-2003 American Dissertation Fellowship, American Association of University Woman Educational Foundation ($20000)

2002 Best Teaching Assistant Award, Department of Plant Biology, Arizona State University

2002 Best Student Poster Award, 46th Annual meeting of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science awarded for the poster entitled "Pollen dimorphism in Ephedra L. (Ephedraceae)"

2001 Graduate Student Research Award, American Society of Plant Taxonomists

2000-2001 Phelps Dodge Scholarship, Phelps Dodge Foundation ($10000)

2000 J. Sidney Karling Student Research Award, Botanical Society of America

2000 Gertrude Claypool Fund, National Council of State Garden Clubs

1999 Best Student Paper Award, Chihuahuan Desert Research Symposium awaded for the paper presentation entitled: Ephedras del Desierto Chihuahuense: Importancia taxonómica y aspectos cuticulares

1996 Travel Award, International Organization of Paleobotany awarded to present paper at the 5th Quadrennial Conference of the International Organization of Paleobotany

Research Interests:

My research interests are in plant systematics, evolution and biogeography, particularly biogeographic disjuncts. My previous work has involved considerable field experience in temperate and tropical environments, including work in North Africa, Mexico, South America and South East Asia, as well as morphological, anatomical and molecular study of several groups including conifers, Gnetales and basal eudicots. In particular, I have worked on inferring phylogenetic relationships in the gnetalean joint-firs, Ephedra, by combining morphological and molecular data sets. The resulting phylogeny indicates a basal geographic split into well-supported clades of Old and New World species, and derivation of the New World clade from within the Old World. Within the paraphyletic Old World three highly supported monophyletic groups are recognized that are highly concordant with subdivision of Old World taxa based on morphological evidence. Within the New World clade two main subclades of North and South American taxa are strongly supported. Character reconstruction of ovulate strobilus types indicates that fleshy bracts are ancestral within Ephedra, with shifts to dry, winged bracts having occurred multiple times. Low levels of sequence divergence in both ITS and rps4, in particular throughout the North American lineages for nrDNA ITS1, suggest that either Ephedra underwent a recent and rapid ecological radiation in North America, or that ribosomal DNA evolution in North American Ephedra has been highly conservative. Using cuticle micromorphology and stem anatomy of 27 species and two interspecific hybrids of New World Ephedra I also tested the validity of previously proposed phylogenetic relationships and was able to demonstrate that while several morphological and anatomical differences are consistent with some taxonomic divisions, the distribution of other characters do not correlate with present classification, but appear to be more tied to plant habitat, with extreme xeric conditions or in some instances more mesic conditions, while others seem to be correlated with adaptive significance of dispersal syndromes. This study documents greater diversity in Ephedra, particularly in seed shape and bract morphology, than is usually recognized and demonstrates the taxonomic utility of micromorphology and anatomy, even in plants with reduced morphology.

I have also been interested to incorporate the fossil record into phylogenetic reconstruction and have gained experience in working with Tertiary fossils in the Trochodendraceae and Altingiaceae in collaboration with Associate Professor Dr. Kathleen Pigg at Arizona State University. While molecular and morphological data sets of living forms provide hypotheses for modern phylogenetic relationships, only fossils give direct evidence for the evolutionary history and phytogeographic distribution of a group. Anatomically preserved seeds and fruits of Liquidambar (Altingiaceae) from the Middle Miocene Yakima Canyon Flora of Washington State allow for comparison at high taxonomic resolution with extant relatives. From this research it became apparent that a rigorous analysis of morphological characters on a broader scale including all the taxa within Altingiaceae is needed to help elucidate relationships in this group.

Current Research:

Currently, I continue to study the plant family Altingiaceae, or sweet gums, in collaboration with Associate Curator of Botany, Dr. Jun Wen, combining comparative morphological and anatomical analyses of fossil and living taxa with molecular sequences of extant species in order to understand relationships within this family as well as the history of diversification of the Altingiaceae and their adaptation to climatic conditions in the past. This family shows a fascinating intercontinental biogeographical disjunct pattern in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring in temperate areas of North America, w Asia and tropical and subtropical Asia. In spite of the biogeographic importance of the group, the largest genus of the family, Altingia, is taxonomically poorly known. Comparative material is lacking in most herbaria. The project’s goals are firstly to carry out a detailed collection program of all species in the Altingiaceae in Indochina and South China, areas particularly rich of endemic species in the Altingiaceae. The obtained material will be analyzed with morphological and molecular tools. Secondly, based on the analyses of molecular sequence data we will test whether Altingiaceae diversified first in temperate regions and later migrated into tropical areas, and whether the lack of morphological difference in some taxa is due to morphological stasis.

Additionally, in collaboration with Associate Curator of Geology, Dr. Jenny McElwain, the proposed study will evaluate responses of the Altingiaceae to variations in the concentration of atmospheric CO2 using both fossil leaves from several Tertiary sites as well as historical sequences of herbarium specimens collected over the past 200 years of anthropogenic CO2 rise as well as recent collections obtained during the proposed field work.

Further research in the Altingiaceae will evaluate the taxonomic utility of pollen micromorphology to address questions of intergeneric hybridization within the group as well as examination of wood anatomical characters that could aid in the delimitation of species from tropical versus temperate habitats and to further test the hypothesis of a temperate origin for Altingiaceae and a subsequent migration into tropical habitats.

Publications:

Pigg, K. B., S. M. Ickert-Bond, and J. Wen (American Journal of Botany, accepted, in press). Anatomically preserved Liquidambar (Altingiaceae) from the Middle Miocene of Yakima Canyon, Washington State, USA, and its biogeographic implications.

Ickert-Bond, S. M. and M. F. Wojciechowski. (Systematic Botany, in review). Phylogenetic relationships in Ephedra (Gnetales): evidence from nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence data.

Ickert-Bond, S. M., J. J. Skvarla, and W. F. Chissoe. 2003. Pollen dimorphism in Ephedra L. (Ephedraceae). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 124: 325-334.

Ickert-Bond, S. M. 2002. Ephedra L. (Ephedraceae) in Ecuador, contributions from micromorphology and anatomy, pp. 2-19 in Freire-Fierro, A. & D. A. Neill (eds.) 2002. La Botánica en el Nuevo Milenio, Memorias del III Congreso Ecuatoriano de Botánica. Publicaciones de la Fundación Ecuatoriana para la Investigación y Desarrollo de la Botánica FUNBOTANICA 4. Quito 260 p.

Pigg, K. B., W. C. Wehr and S. M. Ickert-Bond. 2001. Trochodendron and Nordenskioldia (Trochodendraceae) from the Middle Eocene of Washington State, U.S.A. Intern. Journal of Plant Sciences 162 (5): 1187-1198.

Ickert-Bond, S. M. 2001. Reexamination of wood anatomical features in Pinus krempfii (Pinaceae). International Association of Wood Anatomists Journal 22 (4): 355-365.

Ickert-Bond, S. M. and D. J. Pinkava. 2001 Vascular plant types in the Arizona State University herbarium with a brief history of the herbarium. Sida 19(4): 850-885.

Ickert-Bond, S. M. 2000. Cuticular micromorphology of Pinus krempfii Lec. (Pinaceae) and additional species from southeast Asia. Intern. Journal of Plant Science 161(2): 301-317.

Ickert-Bond, S. M. and D. J. Pinkava. 2000. Morphology and Cytology of Joint-Fir, Ephedra torreyana var. powelliorum in Big Bend National Park. Investigators’ Annual Report 1999, Big Bend National Park, National Park Service.

Ickert-Bond, S. M. 2000. Morphology and Cytology of Joint-fir, Ephedra funerea Coville & Morton in Death Valley National Park. Investigators’ Annual Report 1999, Death Valley National Park, National Park Service.

Ickert-Bond, S. M., and H. Dapper. 1995. Können Kiefernarten der Subsektionen Balfourianae und Rzedowskianae das deutsche Baumschulsortiment erweitern? Bamschulpraxis 25: 214-218.

Current Position:

lifesciences.asu.edu/herbarium/sbond/index.html