Contact Information
702 S Wright St
Urbana, IL 61801-3631
Research Areas
Biography
Professional Information
The development of strong academic programs requires balancing innovation, educational quality, faculty governance, and institutional requirements. As Associate Dean for Curricula and Academic Policy in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, I work with faculty, administrators, and campus partners to develop new academic programs, advance curricular innovation, guide academic policy, and support shared governance. Current efforts and scholarly interests focus on expanding interdisciplinary and flexible educational pathways, strengthening academic governance processes, facilitating the development of new majors, minors, concentrations, certificates, and degree programs, and exploring innovative approaches that enable academic programs to respond effectively to evolving educational, workforce, and societal needs.
Research Interests
Apiaceae, Plant Systematics, Phylogenomics, Plastome Structural Variation, Evolution, Classification, Biogeography, and related areas.
Research Description
Understanding the evolutionary history of flowering plants provides the foundation for investigating biodiversity, classification, character evolution, and biogeographic patterns. As Professor of Plant Biology in the School of Integrative Biology, my research focuses on the systematics, phylogenomics, taxonomy, classification, and biogeography of the flowering plant family Apiaceae (the carrot, celery, or parsley family), a large and globally distributed group of ecological, economic, and pharmaceutical importance. Current research spans topics ranging from species-level relationships and generic boundaries to higher-level classification, using approaches that range from herbarium-based studies to large-scale phylogenomic analyses. Conducted in collaboration with researchers throughout the world, this work contributes to a modern evolutionary framework for Apiaceae and to international initiatives developing a globally standardized, phylogenetically informed classification of plant diversity.
Education
B.Sc., 1982, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Ph.D., 1987, University of Alberta, Canada
Postdoctoral positions: University of Michigan and Indiana University
Additional Campus Affiliations
Curator, University of Illinois Vascular Plant Herbarium
Faculty, Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
Highlighted Publications
Zhou, J., Niu, J., Zhou, T., Zhang, Y., Yang, B., Zhou, S., Li, W., Liu, Z., & Downie, S. R. (2026). Resolving the tribal affiliation of the East Asia clade: phylogenomic evidence for its inclusion into Komarovieae (Apiaceae: Apioideae). Annals of botany, 137(3), 761-776. Article mcaf289. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf289
Zuntini, A. R., Carruthers, T., Maurin, O., Bailey, P. C., Leempoel, K., Brewer, G. E., Epitawalage, N., Françoso, E., Gallego-Paramo, B., McGinnie, C., Negrão, R., Roy, S. R., Simpson, L., Toledo Romero, E., Barber, V. M. A., Botigué, L., Clarkson, J. J., Cowan, R. S., Dodsworth, S., ... Baker, W. J. (2024). Phylogenomics and the rise of the Angiosperms. Nature, 629(8013), 843-850. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07324-0
Liao, C. Y., Gao, Q., Katz-Downie, D. S., & Downie, S. R. (2022). A systematic study of North American Angelica species (Apiaceae) based on nrDNA ITS and cpDNA sequences and fruit morphology. Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 60(4), 789-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.12702
Clarkson, J. J., Zuntini, A. R., Maurin, O., Downie, S. R., Plunkett, G. M., Nicolas, A. N., Smith, J. F., Feist, M. A. E., Gutierrez, K., Malakasi, P., Bailey, P., Brewer, G. E., Epitawalage, N., Zmarzty, S., Forest, F., & Baker, W. J. (2021). A higher-level nuclear phylogenomic study of the carrot family (Apiaceae). American Journal of Botany, 108(7), 1252-1269. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1701
Downie, S. R., & Jansen, R. K. (2015). A comparative analysis of whole plastid genomes from the Apiales: Expansion and contraction of the inverted repeat, mitochondrial to plastid transfer of DNA, and identification of highly divergent noncoding regions. Systematic Botany, 40(1), 336-351. https://doi.org/10.1600/036364415X686620
Downie, S. R., Spalik, K., Katz-Downie, D. S., & Reduron, J.-P. (2010). Major clades within Apiaceae subfamily Apioideae as inferred by phylogenetic analysis of nrDNA ITS sequences. Plant Diversity and Evolution, 128(1-2), 111-136. https://doi.org/10.1127/1869-6155/2010/0128-0005
Recent Publications
Zhou, J., Niu, J., Zhou, T., Zhang, Y., Yang, B., Zhou, S., Li, W., Liu, Z., & Downie, S. R. (2026). Resolving the tribal affiliation of the East Asia clade: phylogenomic evidence for its inclusion into Komarovieae (Apiaceae: Apioideae). Annals of botany, 137(3), 761-776. Article mcaf289. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf289
Sun, F., & Downie, S. R. (2024). Perideridia, Apiaceae. In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.), Flora of North America: Magnoliophyta: Geraniaceae to Apiaceae (pp. 462-470). (Flora of North America; Vol. 13). Oxford University Press.
Zhou, J., Wang, X., Zhou, S., Niu, J., Yue, J., Liu, Z., & Downie, S. R. (2024). Circumscription of the East Asia clade (Apiaceae subfamily Apioideae) and the taxonomic placements of several problematic genera. Plant Diversity, 46(2), 206-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2023.11.002
Zuntini, A. R., Carruthers, T., Maurin, O., Bailey, P. C., Leempoel, K., Brewer, G. E., Epitawalage, N., Françoso, E., Gallego-Paramo, B., McGinnie, C., Negrão, R., Roy, S. R., Simpson, L., Toledo Romero, E., Barber, V. M. A., Botigué, L., Clarkson, J. J., Cowan, R. S., Dodsworth, S., ... Baker, W. J. (2024). Phylogenomics and the rise of the Angiosperms. Nature, 629(8013), 843-850. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07324-0
Liao, C. Y., Gao, Q., Katz-Downie, D. S., & Downie, S. R. (2022). A systematic study of North American Angelica species (Apiaceae) based on nrDNA ITS and cpDNA sequences and fruit morphology. Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 60(4), 789-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.12702