Matlaga is a plant population ecologist interested in the evolution of plant reproductive strategies. He and his students investigate the common mixed reproductive strategy used by plants of reproducing by making both sexual (seeds and seedlings) and clonal offspring (plantlets, bulbils etc.). The question underlying Matlaga’s research is: Why do many plants make both sexual and clonal offspring? Recent publications include: “Age-dependent vital rates of the bioenergy crop Miscanthus x giganteus in Illinois” published in Invasive Plant Science and Management and “Context-dependent pollinator limitation in stochastic environments: When does increased seed set overpower the cost of reproduction in an understory herb?” published in the Journal of Ecology.

Matlaga’s teaching includes Ecology, Evolution and Heredity, and Ecosystems. He is a member of the Botanical Society of America, Ecological Society of America, and the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation.