Suman Neupane
Assistant Professor of Biology
Dr. Suman Neupane comes to Ball State from Murray State University, where he was an Assistant Professor and Curator of the Herbarium. His research interests include Bioinformatics, Phylogenetics Theory, Macroevolution, and Plant Systematics. He teaches botany and plant taxonomy.
Education
2014- 2016 PhD, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
2008– 2013 Graduate student, Old Dominion University, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Norfolk, VA USA
2006 Master of Science in Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
2001 BS in Biology, Amrit Science College, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Research Interests
I am a plant systematist and evolutionary biologist. Our fascination with the diverse world of plants drives research in our lab. We investigate how plants have evolved over millions of years, examining their complex traits and how they've adapted to different environments. To do this, we use DNA and morphological data to estimate evolutionary trees (phylogenies) of modern (extant) plants. We specialize in the group Spermacoceae (~1500 species) within the coffee (Rubiaceae) family, examining its evolution in tropical mountains and remote oceanic islands. Additionally, we contribute to organizing the vast diversity of living organisms into distinct groups based on their evolutionary relationships, a field known as systematics. Through global collaborations, our molecular systematics project aims to create a comprehensive phylogeny of Spermacoceae, resolving the taxonomic inconsistencies in the group. Additionally, we advance computational tools and methods for improved phylogenetic analysis and modeling of macroevolutionary processes.
I am currently seeking MS students with backgrounds in plant sciences and/or computational biology. If you're passionate about plant diversity and evolution, please contact us about joining our team.
To learn more about our research and publications, please visit our website.
Neupane Lab
Publications
Quang, B. H., Nguyen, K. S., Le, T. A., Nguyen, Q. L., Ngo, D. H. V., Wu, L., & Neupane, S. 2023. Hedyotis konhanungensis (Rubiaceae): A new species from the central highlands of Vietnam. PhytoKeys, 221, 73.
doi: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.221.95895
Rosa A Sánchez-Guillén, Sara F Ceccarelli, Fabricio Villalobos, Suman Neupane, Anais Rivas-Torres, Iago Sanmartín-Villar, Maren Wellenreuther, Seth M Bybee, María I Velásquez-Vélez, Emilio Realpe, Jesús R Chávez-Ríos, Henri J Dumont& Adolfo Cordero-Rivera. The evolutionary history of colour polymorphism in Ischnura damselflies (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). 2020. Odonatologica 49(3/4) 2020: 333O-370
https://bioone.org/journals/odonatologica/volume-49/issue-3-4/zenodo.4268559/The-evolutionary-history-of-colour-polymorphism-in-Ischnura-damselflies-Odonata/10.5281/zenodo.4268559.short
Neupane, S., Fucikova, K., Lewis, L. A., Chen, M. U., Kyo, L., & Lewis, P.O. 2019. Assessing Combinability of Phylogenomic Data under Bayesian context. Systematic Biology 68 (5), 744-754.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syz007
Fučíková, K., Lewis, P. O., Neupane, S., Karol, K. G., Lewis, L. A. 2019. Order, Please! Uncertainty in the Ordinal-Level Classification of Chlorophyceae. PeerJ 7: e6899
doi: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6899
Paudyal, S. K., Delprete, P. G., Neupane, S., Motley, T. J. 2018. Molecular phylogeny and generic delimitations within the tribe Chiococceae (Cinchonoideae, Rubiaceae). Botanical Journal of Linnaean Society 187 (3), 365-396.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boy029
Neupane, S., Lewis, P. O., Dessein, S. Paudyal, S. K., Shanks, H. & Lens, F. 2017. Evolution of woody life form on tropical mountains in the tribe Spermacoceae (Rubiaceae). American Journal of Botany 104 (3): 1-20.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1600248
Lewis, P. O., M. H. Chen, L. Kuo, L. A. Lewis, K. Fučíková, S. Neupane, Y. B. Wang, and D. Shi. 2016. Estimating Bayesian phylogenetic information content. Systematic Biology 65: 1009–1023.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syw042
Merckx V.S.F.T., Hendriks K.P., Beentjes K.K., Mennes C.B., Becking L.E., Peijnenburg K.T.C.A., Afendy A., Arumugam N., de Boer H., Biun A., Buang M.M., Chen P.-P., Chung A.Y.C., Dow R., Feijen F.A.A., Feijen H., Feijen-van Soest C, Geml J., Geurts R., Gravendeel B., Hovenkamp P., Imbun P., Ipor I., Janssens S.B., Jocqué M. Kappes H., Khoo E., Koomen P., Lens F., Majapun R.J., Morgado L.N., Neupane S., Nieser N., Pereira J.T., Rahman H., Sabran S., Sawang A., Schwallier R.M., Shim P.-S., Smit H., Sol N., Spait M., Stech M., Stokvis F., Sugau J.B., Suleiman M., Sumail S., Thomas D.C., van Tol J., Tuh F.Y.Y., Yahya B.E., Nais J., Repin R., Lakim M. & Schilthuizen M. 2015. Evolution of endemism on a young tropical mountain. Nature 524: 347-350.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14949
Neupane, S., Dessein, S. Wikstorm, N., Lewis, P. O., Long, Chunlin, Bremer, B., & Motley, T. J. 2015. The Hedyotis-Oldenlandia complex (Rubiaceae: Spermacoceae) in Asia and the Pacific: phylogeny revisited with new generic combinations. Taxon 64 (2): 299-322.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.12705/642.8
Wikstorm, N., Neupane, S., Karehed, J., Motley, T. J., & Bremer, B. 2013. Phylogeny of Hedyotis L. (Spermacoceae, Rubiaceae): Redefining a Complex Asian-Pacific Assemblage. Taxon 62 (2): 357-374.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.12705/622.2
Neupane, S., Dessein, S, Motley, T. J. 2009. The Hedyotis – Oldenlandia – Kohautia complex (Rubiaceae) in Nepal: A study of fruit, seed and pollen characters and their taxonomic significance. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 66: 371-390.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0960428609990035