My research integrates evolutionary biology and genomics to enhance our understanding of biological diversity. I generate and apply genomic resources to reconstruct evolutionary and demographic histories, study adaptation to changing environments, and characterize structural genomic variation and recombination landscapes. By integrating fieldwork, laboratory experiments, advanced genomic technologies, and computational analyses, my work bridges foundational and advanced population genetic methodologies to address key evolutionary questions.
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Postdoc Research
NSF PRFB at University of California, Riverside
dogs
fish
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Recombination is a fundamental evolutionary process that shapes genetic variation and influences adaptation by generating novel haplotypes, purging deleterious mutations, or breaking up favorable genetic combinations. Variation in recombination landscapes across genomes and species profoundly impacts genetic diversity and the efficacy of selection. Click here to learn more about my award.
Dogs provide a compelling system for studying recombination because they lack a functional PRDM9, a key regulator of recombination hotspots in most mammals. Their diverse population structure, shaped by domestication and breed formation, offers a unique opportunity to investigate how recombination evolves under strong selection. My research aims to build high-quality recombination maps for dogs, using population data to calculate population-level recombination maps and sperm sequencing to construct individual-level maps. Furthermore, building on my dissertation work (described below), I am investigating recombination and adaptive trait architectures in Atlantic silverside fish. This research combines genomic tools, common garden experiments, and simulations to study how recombination evolves under varying levels of gene flow across an environmental gradient. Key objectives include constructing linkage maps, performing genome-wide association studies, and simulating evolutionary scenarios to understand the dynamics of recombination and adaptation in diverse ecological contexts. Advisors: Ellie Armstrong, PhD and Kieran Samuk, PhD |
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University of Southern California (USC)
foxes
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The gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) is widespread throughout North America, and although phenotypically similar across its range, genetic evidence supports deep divergence between eastern and western lineages, with a narrow contact zone in the southern Great Plains. However, patterns of genetic diversity in this species have been described using a reference genome from distantly-related dogs, which limits, and likely biases, population genomics inference.
Leveraging the recently published gray fox genome, I am exploring how reference bias can affect demographic inference in gray foxes. Advisor: Jazlyn Mooney, PhD |
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PhD Research
fish
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Atlantic silversides (Menidia menidia) are distributed along the world's steepest thermal cline along the east coast of North America. In response to this thermal gradient, silverside populations have evolved physiological and morphological traits that allow them to deal with their respective environments. Interestingly, these adaptations are maintained despite homogenizing connectivity between populations.
Combining population genomics, comparative linkage mapping, and quantitative trait loci mapping, I discovered that multiple locally adapted traits map to genomic regions that are highly differentiated between populations and overlap with multiple massive segregating chromosomal inversions. Advisors: Nina Therkildsen, PhD and Kelly Zamudio, PhD |
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MS Research
frogs
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Neotropical red-eyed treefrogs (Agalychnis callidryas) exhibit substantial phenotypic variation across a broad, primarily Central American range, as well as microgeographic variation across Costa Rica and Panama in color pattern, body size, skin peptides, and mating behavior.
Combining population genomics, color pattern analysis, and courtship experiments, I discovered a contact zone between divergent populations and evidence of phenotypic novelty in leg color - a trait expected to mediate assortative mating. I also demonstrated population-level differences in both male and female courtship behaviors and female preference for local males based on call and color. Advisor: Jeanne Robertson, PhD |