A native of New England, he conducted his Ph.D. and post-doctoral research at Harvard University, including field work in Brazil, Mexico, New England and Japan. Professor Ackerly and his research group study the ecology and evolution of plant traits – characteristics such as leaf size and thickness, flowering time, seed size, and others, that reflect the ecological diversity of terrestrial plants. Current projects in his lab are examining vernal pools of the Central Valley, evergreen shrubs in California and Australia, tropical forests in Ecuador, woody plants in the Sierra Nevada, and potential impacts of climate change on the endemic flora of the California Floristic Province. At Berkeley, Professor Ackerly teaches courses on Ecology, Plant Ecology, Biodiversity, and Plants of the UC Botanical Garden.