RESEARCH INTERESTS

Phylogenetic systematics & biogeography of plants: field & herbarium studies of alpine plants, alpine biogeography especially the Andes, Himalayas, Sierra Nevada & the Rocky Mountains. Molecular evolution, bioinformatics, & phylogenetic theory: the utility & selection of complex models in phylogenetic analyses, divergence time estimation, & comparative analyses of chloroplast genomes.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Moore, M. J., C. D. Bell, D. E. Solits, & P. S. Soltis. 2007. Using plastid genome-scale data to resolve enigmatic relationships among basal angiosperm lineages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 104: 19363-19368.
• Bell, C. D. 2007. Phylogenetic placement and biogeography of the North American species of Valerianella (Valerianaceae: Dipsacales) based on nuclear and chloroplast DNA. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 44: 929-941.
• Moreau, C. S., C. D. Bell, R. Vila, S. B. Archibald, & N. Pierce. 2006. Phylogeny of ants: diversification in the age of angiosperms. Science 312: 101-104. [COVER]
• Bell, C. D., D. E. Soltis, & P. Soltis. 2005. The age of the angiosperms: a molecular time scale without a clock. Evolution 59: 1245-1258.
• Bell, C. D. & M. J. Donoghue. 2005. Phylogeny and biogeography of Valerianaceae (Dipsacales), with special reference to the South American species. Organisms, Diversity, & Evolution 5: 147-159.
• Bell, C. D. & M. J. Donoghue. 2005. Dating the Dipsacales: comparing models, genes, and evolutionary implications. American Journal of Botany 92: 284-296.