Evolutionary relationships of liverworts with a special focus ... - Doria

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details and features, but we still have a long
way to go in figuring out how all big and
small pieces of information fit together.
Acknowledgements
The process of preparing this thesis has led
me deeply into the interesting and
mysterious world of liverworts and into the
even more mysterious jungle of
phylogenetic methods. I am grateful to all of
the people who have guided me. I am
indebted to Professor Sinikka Piippo, who
first proposed that I become a graduate
student and conduct my study on
Lejeuneaceae. The idea that a molecular
study should be performed on the
Lejeuneaceae originally came, I believe,
from Professor Timo Koponen. The
specimens collected during the Hunan
expeditions organized by Timo have formed
the backbone of my Lejeuneaceae analyses.
Professor Jaakko Hyvönen guided my first
steps into the field of phylogenetics, and
over the years, he has provided invaluable
advice and encouragement, particularly
during those moments when DNA
extractions failed or the analyses became
tangled. Dr. Jyrki Muona has also had a
great influence on my phylogenetic thinking.
Professor Tamás Pócs has given similar help
in morphology and also provided me with
very important specimens. The official
reviewers of this thesis, Dr John Engel and
Professor Hedderson, provided me with very
valuable comments and criticism. The Carol
Ann Pelli edited the first draft of this thesis
and several of the articles, and Dr. Neil Bell
edited the final version of the introduction.
Their suggestions have greatly improved the
quality of English.
Amongst my colleagues, I especially
want to thank my co-workers in the
Liverwort Phylogeny Project, Dr. Xiaolan
He-Nygrén and Aino Juslén. Xiaolan is a
most inspiring colleague, a reliable friend,
and a very intelligent and open-minded
researcher. I also admire her for almost
single-handedly making the first application
to the Academy of Finland, an application
which turned out to be so good that it gave
us a chance to concentrate on this extremely
interesting and rewarding project, a project
which continues. Aino has, in addition to her
knowledge of isophyllous liverworts and a
very useful contact with Dr. David Glenny,
brought her enthusiasm, energy, and good
humor to the project.
For most of the time duration of this
project, we three have worked in different
parts of Europe, Xiaolan in Helsinki, Aino in
the Netherlands, and myself on the
Ahvenanmaa Islands. Our collaboration has
nevertheless functioned extremely well, and
we have discussed ongoing analyses and
exciting new results by e-mail, almost as
though we were sitting and talking in the
same room.
Dr. Gunilla Ståhls-Mäkelä has provided
me with both important advice and support. I
admire her ability to discuss even critical
views in a positive and encouraging way.
She also shows very good judgment, which I
especially appreciate. We have had countless
discussions with Dr. Sanna Huttunen over
the years about methodological questions,
and those discussions have been very
important to me. Her imput has greatly
improved my analyses. Nina Laurenne
guided me in the secrets of supercomputing
and through the jungle of incomprehensible