Dioecy is a breeding system with discretely sexed individual plants. In angiosperms, only 6-10% of species are dioecious, but the breeding system is widespread occurring in 175 families and over 987 genera. Further understanding of why dioecy persists may be found in exploring the relationship between dioecy and its accepted correlated character traits.

The intern will work on compiling a matrix of applicable character traits and breeding systems for the target taxa using a variety of sources. Intern will also be exposed to analytical techniques in R and basic phylogenetic tools and techniques.