Previous and Ongoing Projects
Population structure and adaptation in the Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida)
I received my Ph.D. from the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago, where I was a member of Cathy Pfister's lab. For my dissertation, I used reduced-representation sequencing, transcriptomics, and mesocosm experiments to study the population structure of the Olympia oyster and assess its adaptive potential in response to ocean acidification. Apart from developing this species as a new 'model' system for understanding the genomics of local adaptation in the face of gene flow, this work has significant implications for ongoing efforts to restore the Olympia oyster across its native range on the west coast of North America. I collaborate often with Steven Roberts' lab at the University of Washington and Puget Sound Restoration Fund at the K. K. Chew Center for Shellfish Research and Restoration. You can watch my dissertation defense here!
Genetic marker development in the black basses (Micropterus spp.)
As a Postdoctoral Fellow in Eric Peatman's lab at the School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences at Auburn University, I investigated the molecular underpinnings of hybridization and species delineation in black basses (Micropterus spp.). This resulted in the genetic identification of a distinct lineage of largemouth bass originating from the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and development of 73 SNP panel for classifying species integrity and hybridization between three lineages of largemouth bass.
I received my Ph.D. from the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago, where I was a member of Cathy Pfister's lab. For my dissertation, I used reduced-representation sequencing, transcriptomics, and mesocosm experiments to study the population structure of the Olympia oyster and assess its adaptive potential in response to ocean acidification. Apart from developing this species as a new 'model' system for understanding the genomics of local adaptation in the face of gene flow, this work has significant implications for ongoing efforts to restore the Olympia oyster across its native range on the west coast of North America. I collaborate often with Steven Roberts' lab at the University of Washington and Puget Sound Restoration Fund at the K. K. Chew Center for Shellfish Research and Restoration. You can watch my dissertation defense here!
Genetic marker development in the black basses (Micropterus spp.)
As a Postdoctoral Fellow in Eric Peatman's lab at the School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences at Auburn University, I investigated the molecular underpinnings of hybridization and species delineation in black basses (Micropterus spp.). This resulted in the genetic identification of a distinct lineage of largemouth bass originating from the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and development of 73 SNP panel for classifying species integrity and hybridization between three lineages of largemouth bass.
