Research Overview
avian ecologial and evolutionary genomics
My research focuses on understanding the factors that promote population divergence, with a particular interest in local adaptation of populations within widespread species. In my work, I strive to apply recent advances in genomic technologies and databases to the study of natural populations of non-model bird species in order to address central questions in evolutionary biology. My research combines these genomic tools with field and museum-based studies to gain a holistic understanding of the process of adaptive evolution. Most recently, I have been integrating population genetic studies of candidate genes with microarray analyses of genomic gene expression profiles to study the process of high altitude adaptation in Andean birds.
High altitude adaptation in Andean birds - Several bird species have exceptionally broad elevational distributions along the Pacific slope of the Andes. I am using this system to test hypotheses of the roles of microevolutionary forces in population genetic divergence and to identify genes and biochemical pathways that are involved in adaptation to different elevations. More details on my current projects can be found by following the links to the right.