Maya Shamsid-Deen
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Arizona State University Tempe Campus Life Sciences Center A Wing (LSA) 106 Tempe, AZ 85281
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Mail code: 4501Campus: Tempe
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Dr. Maya L. Shamsid-Deen is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. She is a trained botanist with a specialization in plant systematics and evolutionary ecology. Dr. Shamsid-Deen earned her doctoral degree from the University of New Mexico, where she conducted research on plant phenotypic plasticity, i.e., the ability of plants to alter their physical traits in response to the environment without genetic change. Her dissertation featured a large-scale greenhouse experiment investigating the role of phenotypic plasticity in plant fitness and colonization success. In addition to her work on phenotypic plasticity, Dr. Shamsid-Deen contributed to a collaborative long-term ecological study examining the influence of symbiosis on host genetic diversity using bioinformatic techniques.
A recipient of the prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Ford Fellowship, Dr. Shamsid-Deen has developed strong pedagogical expertise. She served as a Student Experience Project Fellow, which employs in community-centered and inclusive teaching methods to improve student outcomes. Throughout her graduate career, Dr. Shamsid-Deen taught both writing-intensive and research-integrated courses.
- PhD in Biology, University of New Mexico
- Master of Science in Biology with an emphasis on Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, Northern Arizona University
- Bachelor of Science in Biology, University of Alabama
Maya Shamsid-Deen is a botanist with expertise in plant systematics and evolutionary ecology. Her research focuses on the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that enable plants to colonize new habitats and persist under changing environmental conditions. Her dissertation examined phenotypic plasticity, the ability of plants to alter their traits in response to the environment without genetic change, and plant–microbe symbioses as potential drivers of population persistence. By integrating greenhouse experiments and genomic analyses, her research seeks to uncover the strategies plants use to establish, persist, and adapt across diverse landscapes.
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 597 | Capstone |
| BIO 544 | Discovering Biodiversity |
| BIO 544 | Discovering Biodiversity |
| BIO 597 | Capstone |
| BIO 598 | Special Topics |
| BIO 598 | Special Topics |
| BIO 444 | Discovering Biodiversity |
| BIO 444 | Discovering Biodiversity |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 597 | Capstone |
| BIO 597 | Capstone |
| BIO 598 | Special Topics |
| BIO 598 | Special Topics |
| BIO 591 | Seminar |
| BIO 591 | Seminar |