Hannah Gunn

Postgraduate Researcher

Hannah is currently working in the Byers lab, focusing on species of the fragrant orchid genus Gymnadenia which are found growing in the European Alps.

In areas where populations of different species overlap, these Gymnadenia orchids can hybridise, although the hybrids are only found in low frequencies. The hybrid orchids are thought to be rare because of strong reproductive isolation between the parent species.

So how are these orchids hybridising? And how will climate change affect reproductive isolation between orchid species in this fragile mountain ecosystem?

Hannah is using a combination of approaches including pollinator and flowering time observations from Alpine field sites, climate modelling, and looking at genetic traits in order to explore these questions.