Kenneth Olsen

Kenneth Olsen

George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor of Biology
Associate Chair of Climate and Facilities
PhD, Washington University in St. Louis

contact info:

mailing address:

  • Washington University
    CB 1137
    One Brookings Drive
    St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

​Professor Olsen's research focuses on the genetic basis of evolution in plants: how is the genetic variation that we find within a species shaped by natural selection, population history, and other evolutionary forces?

One way that he looks at this question is by using crop domestication as a model for rapid evolutionary change. The wealth of genetic and genomic information available for crops makes them useful for studying the molecular evolution of genes in response to selection and other forces. In Olsen's lab they also study the evolutionary genetics of wild plant species. Topics of interest include the genetic basis of adaptive variation, the forces affecting genome-wide patterns of linkage disequilibrium, and phylogeography.

Publications

See Professor Olsen's complete publications list on his Google Scholar Profile.