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Research in Evolutionary Biology |
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All biological research is implicitly evolutionary because all fields study homologies (similarities caused by shared ancestry). And in this age of genomics, overtly evolutionary questions are becoming more prominent in many fields. Thus in one sense the Department consists entirely of evolutionists. We also have a strong tradition of research in systematics, biogeography, evolutionary ecology, and evolutionary genetics. The faculty listed below pursue problems in which evolutionary histories or processes are central, either as the objects of study or as analytical tools. Fred Adler Mathematical models for the evolution of cooperation; ecological and evolutionary dynamics of disease Lynn Bohs Systematics and character evolution of Solanaceae Dale Clayton Evolutionary ecology and systematics of birds and feather lice Lissy Coley Evolution of plant defenses against herbivory Colin Dale Evolution of insect-bacterial associations; microbial diversity; ecology and evolution of symbiosis Dinah Davidson Evolution of ant-plant mutualisms; tropical biodiversity Denise Dearing Evolution of mammalian dietary specializations; mechanisms and tradeoffs in the detoxification of plant secondary compounds Joe Dickinson Evolution of gene expression and development; mutation accumulation and adaptation in experimental yeast populations Don Feener Evolution of host-parasitoid interactions, especially in ants and phorid flies; evolutionary functional ecology of caste in ants Glenn Herrick (Pathology) Evolution of transposons and other "selfish" genetic elements; ciliate macronuclear development Toto Olivera Evolution of toxic peptides in marine snails of the genus Conus Wayne Potts Evolutionary genetics of MHC polymorphism; host-parasite coevolution Alan Rogers (Anthropology) Population genetics and population history of humans; evolutionary game theory; life-history evolution Jon Seger Evolutionary genetics of adaptation; molecular evolution of odorant receptors; sex allocation Michael D. Shapiro Vertebrate genetics, development, and evolution Irene Terry Mating and host-finding behaviors of phytophagous and spore-feeding thrips David Wolstenholme Evolution of mitochondrial genomes |