Dr. Mason W. Kulbaba

I am an evolutionary ecologist with a particular interest in flowering plant reproduction and how plants interact with their environments (both abiotic and biotic). My research applies powerful quantitative tools to fundamental questions of eco-evo dynamics, such as evaluating the capacity for adaptation and evolutionary rescue under contemporary natural selection, and describing the functional role of within-individual floral variation to plant reproduction. Please see the Research Interests link below for more details.

Position

St. Mary’s University
Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Assistant Professor
Herbarium (STMU) Curator

Contact

Email: mason.kulbaba(at)stmu.ca
Post: 14500 Bannister Rd. SE
Calgary, Alberta
T2X 1Z4

Photos
Students
Research Interests

Education and Experience

2023 - present Assistant Professor & Herbarium Curator. Biology, St. Mary’s University, Calgary AB, Canada.
2020 - 2023 Assistant Professor & Herbarium Curator. Biology, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, TX, USA.
2018 - 2019 Postdoc. Dept. Biologial Sciences. University of Calgary
Supervisor: Dr. Lawrence D. Harder
2016 – 2018 Postdoc. Dept. Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. University of Minnesota
Supervisor Dr. Ruth G. Shaw
2013 – 2016 Postdoc. Dept. Biological Sciences. University of Calgary
Supervisor: Dr. Lawrence D. Harder
2007 – 2012 Phd. Dept. Botany. University of Manitoba
Advisor: Dr. Anne C. Worley
2002 – 2007 B.Sc. Dept. Biological Sciences. University of Winnipeg
Honours Advisor: Dr. Richard J. Staniforth

Current Teaching

Fall 2025

Winter 2026

Selected Publications (⭐ indicates undergraduate student)

In Review

⭐Redick, R., Kulbaba, M. W., and S. Vamosi. (In Review) Microsatellite markers support two distinct introductions of Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) to Vancouver Island

Published

Kulbaba, M. W. and L. D. Harder. (2025) A SNP-based approach to estimating the mating and relatedness components of plant mating portfolios. Botany 103: 1-9. Open Access Link

Kulbaba, M. W., Yoko, Z., and J. Hamilton. 2023. Chasing the fitness optimum: temporal variation in the genetic and environmental expression of life-history traits for a perennial plant. Annals of Botany. 132: 1191–1204. PDF

⚡: Featured in a commentary by Dr. Meredith A. Zettlemoyer PDF

Kulbaba, M. W. and R. G. Shaw. 2021. Lifetime fitness through female and male function: influences of genetically effective population size and density. American Naturalist 197: 434-447. PDF.

Kulbaba, M. W., Sheth, S. N., Paine, R. E., Eckhart, V. M., Shaw. R. G. 2019. Additive genetic variance for lifetime fitness and the capacity for adaptation in an annual plant. Evolution 73: 1558-5646. PDF.

Harder, L.D., Strelin, M.M, Clocher, I.C, Kulbaba, M.W. and M. A. Aizen. 2019. The dynamic mosaic phenotypes of flowering plants. New Phytologist 224: 1021-1034. Special issue: The ecology, evolution, and genetics of plant reproductive systems. PDF

Sheth, S. N., Kulbaba, M. W., Pain, R. E., and R. G. Shaw 2018. Expression of additive genetic variance for fitness in a population of partridge pea grown in two field sites. Evolution 72: 2537-2545. PDF

⭐Tomaszewski, C., Kulbaba, M. W. and L. D. Harder. 2018. Mating consequences of contrasting hermaphroditic plant sexual systems. Evolution 70 (10): 2114-2128. PDF

Kulbaba, M. W., Clocher, I. C., and L. D. Harder. 2017. Inflorescence characteristics as function-valued traits: analysis of heritability and selection on architectural effects. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 55 (6) 559 – 565. Invited for special issue on inflorescence displays. PDF.

Kulbaba, M. W. and A. C. Worley. 2014 Patterns of pollen removal and deposition in Polemonium brandegeei (Polemoniaceae): the role of pollinators, floral design and sexual interference. Plant Biology 16: 1087-1095. PDF.

Kulbaba, M. W. and A. C. Worley. 2013. Selection on Polemonium brandegeei (Polemoniaceae) flowers under hummingbird pollination: opposing, parallel or independent of selection by hawkmoths? Evolution 67: 2194-2206. PDF.

Kulbaba, M. W. and A. C. Worley. 2012. Selection on floral design in Polemonium brandegeei (Polemoniaceae): female and male fitness under hawkmoth pollination. Evolution 66: 1344-1359. PDF.

Kulbaba, M. W. and A. C. Worley. 2011. Polymorphic microsatellite loci in Polemonium brandegeei and P. viscosum. American Journal of Botany 98: e4-e6. PDF.

Kulbaba, M. W., Tardif, J. and R. J. Staniforth. 2009. Morphological and ecological relationships between burrs and furs. American Midland Naturalist 161: 380-391. PDF.

Kulbaba, M. W. and A. C. Worley. 2008. Floral design in Polemonium brandegeei (Polemoniaceae): genetic and phenotypic variation under hawkmoth and hummingbird pollination. International Journal of Plant Sciences 169: 509-522.PDF.