SSE is pleased to announce the third round of the weekly virtual seminar series featuring recipients of our Graduate Research Excellence Grants (GREG).
This round’s speakers are recipients of the 2022 and 2023 GREG Rosemary Grant Advanced Award. They will present their research every Monday from 12:00 - 1:00 pm Eastern time, starting August 26 and running through November 18. Each talk will be 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes for questions.
The seminar will be presented via Zoom: Click here to join
This series is organized by the Graduate Student Advisory Committee (GSAC) and hosted by GSAC and SSE Council.
We look forward to hearing about the outstanding research of these student award winners! Watch previous seminars on YouTube.
August 26
Megan Molinari: "The evolution of the hormonal mechanisms underlying complex social behavior in a group of Mediterranean wrasses"
Advisor: Suzanne Alonzo, UC Santa Cruz
Talk Summary: I first present findings on how hormone manipulations impact the social behavior and fitness of a wrasse species with complex social behavior, Symphodus ocellatus. I then discuss ongoing research comparing neural gene expression of hormone receptors in 5 Symphodus species which, despite diverging recently, show large differences in social behavior. Together, these studies help us understand the role hormone expression plays in the evolution of complex social behavior.
Speaker Bio: Megan is a PhD candidate in Dr. Suzanne Alonzo’s laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is interested in how highly conserved hormonal and neural mechanisms can contribute to the large diversity in social behavior observed in animal species.
September 2
HOLIDAY - NO SEMINAR
September 9
Laura Perez: "Investigating the role of evolutionary mismatch and gene-by-environment interactions in Type 2 Diabetes"
Advisor: Mary Shank, Penn State
Talk Summary: The evolutionary mismatch hypothesis proposes that genetic variants that were previously beneficial to fitness in a past environment and subject to positive selection may become ill-suited when that environment changes, leading to negative health consequences. Yet, the extent to which this phenomenon plays a role in the relatively recent increases in the rates of non-communicable diseases across many countries worldwide remains uncertain. In this talk, I present findings from a study that integrated genome-wide association data and evolutionary genomics statistics to examine the plausibility of the mismatch hypothesis for type 2 diabetes.
Speaker Bio: Laura is an MD/PhD student under the advisement of Dr. Mary Shenk and Dr. George Perry in the Department of Anthropology at Penn State University. Her research focuses on investigating non-communicable diseases through the lens of evolutionary medicine. That is, considering how our evolutionary history and current ecological and sociocultural environments impact chronic disease risk and progression.
September 16
Krish Sanghvi: "Is an old male doomed to fail?- Understanding male reproductive senescence"
Advisor: Irem Sepil, University of Oxford
Talk Summary: Is male reproductive senescence universal across animals? What components of the male ejaculate mediate reproductive senescence and is senescence only limited to a male's fecundity or can they also influence a father's offspring? My talk will answer these questions using meta-analysis and experiments on fruit flies.
Speaker Bio: I have recently finished my PhD in biology (on the causes and consequences of male reproductive senescence) from the University of Oxford under the supervision of Irem Sepil and Tommaso Pizzari. I will be starting a post-doc soon with Irem Sepil on the topic of sperm storage and how this influences sexual selection.
September 23
Brittany Velikaneye: "Heat-induced Reproductive Plasticity and its Underlying Molecular Mechanisms in the European Corn Borer Moth"
Advisor: Genevieve Kozak, U Mass Dartmouth
Talk Summary: Does heat induce changes in reproductive traits in insects and, if so, what are the mechanisms underlying this phenotypic plasticity? In my talk, I aim to provide answers to these questions by exploring two experiments using no-choice mating trials and genome-wide enzymatic methyl sequencing. I will conclude my talk with future directions based on the findings of my first two experiments.
Speaker Bio: Brittany is a PhD candidate in Integrative Biology in Dr. Genevieve Kozak's laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her research encompasses both ecology and genomics and examines the effects of elevated temperature on insect reproduction and the molecular mechanisms that drive these phenotypic changes.
September 30
Jeremy Summers: "The fitness impact of immigration in a population of Florida Scrub-Jays"
Advisor: Nancy Chen, University of Rochester
Talk summary: Gene flow is a fundamental force in evolution; however, its long-term impact depends on the fitness of new immigrants entering a population and their descendants. I investigate the demographic consequences of immigration and how fitness differences between immigrants and residents persist over generations in a natural population of the Federally Threatened Florida Scrub-Jay. This work explores the genetic and environmental mechanisms that underly genetic rescue, and contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of small, isolated populations.
Speaker Bio: Jeremy is a PhD candidate in Dr. Nancy Chen's lab at the University of Rochester. They are interested in the consequences of anthropogenic landscape change on natural populations, and their research focuses on the demographic and genetic impacts of dispersal in cases of increased isolation.
October 7
Joshua Dominguez: "Unraveling the eco-evo causes and consequences of microbiome variation in aquatic ecosystems"
Advisor: Jonathan Shurin, UC San Diego
Talk summary: Classic models in ecology and evolution emphasize how species interactions such as competition and predation shape the structure of communities and evolutionary trajectories of organisms. However, symbioses between microbes (bacteria/archaea) and multicellular hosts have been increasingly recognized as relationships that can profoundly shape ecological and evolutionary processes. Many outstanding questions remain on the mechanisms that underly the structure and subsequent functioning of microbiomes. A considerable challenge in microbiome research is the immense amount of variation observed within and among host microbiomes over space, time, and environments. In this talk I aim to address this by examining two central questions: 1) What are the eco-evolutionary factors (the causes) that shape microbiome variation? and (2) What are the potential consequences of this variation for hosts and ecosystems? I will present my dissertation research that aims to answer these questions through the lens of freshwater ecosystems across an array of hosts from zooplankton consumers to fish predators.
Speaker Bio: I am a PhD Candidate in the department of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution at the University of California, San Diego in Jonathan Shurin’s aquatic ecology laboratory. Prior to joining the Shurin lab in 2021, I graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in Marine Science and Biology where I studied invertebrate physiology and invasion ecology in patch reef ecosystems. My broad interests lie at the intersection of evolutionary ecology, metacommunity ecology, biogeography, and symbioses. With my dissertation I aim to understand how host-associated and free-living microbial communities (i.e. microbiomes) are shaped by and subsequently influence emergent higher order processes including host ecology, host adaptation, and ecosystem functioning.
October 14
Matías Gómez-Corrales: "Speciation and Heat Tolerance across Depth Gradients in in Reef Corals"
Advisor: Carlos Prada, University of Rhode Island
Talk Summary: I study the speciation and adaptation of Orbicella coral species in the Caribbean across varying depths, uncovering genetic and physiological variations that enable these corals to thrive in diverse environments. By exploring these depth-related adaptations and their implications for thermal tolerance, I aim to gain valuable insights into resilience and conservation strategies for coral reefs in the face of global warming.
Speaker Bio: I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rhode Island, specializing in coral conservation genomics. My research integrates coral genetics and phylogenetics to understand the distribution and adaptation potential of corals in the Caribbean, addressing critical trends in coral resilience to global warming.
October 21
Yasmeen Erritouni: "Towards a phylo(genetic) understanding of avian iridescence"
Advisor: Adam Leache, University of Washington
Talk Summary: Feather iridescence, eye-catching to humans and birds alike, is crucial for signaling and physiological functions. Yet the evolutionary origins and molecular bases of this trait remain elusive to researchers of structural color. With the Strisores (nightbirds, swifts, and hummingbirds) as a focal taxon, I explore nanostructural and transcriptomic data to identify how iridescence may have arisen from non-iridescent black plumage.
Speaker Bio: Yasmeen (they/them) is a PhD candidate in the Biology Department at the University of Washington and an NIH/NHGRI Genome Training Grant fellow. They have studied pigment-based and structural coloration in reptiles, birds, and avian dinosaurs. Their interests span diverse topics in macro- and microevolution, genomics, biophotonics, queer theory, and the relationship between society and science. Yasmeen is seeking a postdoctoral position in which they can integrate some or all of these topics.
October 28
Amanda Vieira da Silva: "Unveiling the hidden costs: the role of indirect costs on the evolution of mutualistic traits"
Advisor: Laura Leal, Federal University ABC, Brazil
Talk summary: Species are involved in multiple mutualistic interactions simultaneously. What happens to the focal species when there is a conflict between their partners, especially to the evolution of traits mediating these interactions? I will talk a little bit about the effect of protective ants on plants pollinated by bees and how these interactions affect extrafloral nectaries (a gland that secrets extrafloral nectar and attracts ants) and buzz-pollinated flowers.
Speaker Bio: I'm a PhD candidate at Laura Leal's lab. I'm interested in the ecology and evolution of mutualisms, especially pollination and plant defense costs.
November 4
Megan Barkdull: "Evolutionary insights from complex traits in ants"
Advisor: Corrie Moreau, Cornell
Talk Summary: Phenotypic plasticity- the production of multiple phenotypes from a single genomes- is widespread, often adaptive, and poorly understood. Using developmental transcriptomics and comparative genomic approaches, my research explores this topic by focusing on turtle ants (genus Cephalotes), which produce two discrete worker morphs from identical genomes. Better understanding of this and similar polymorphisms will advance our knowledge of how novel adaptive traits arise and evolve.
Speaker Bio: Megan Barkdull is a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University and incoming Assistant Curator of Entomology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Her research focuses on the evolution and development of complex traits in insects, especially ants; she is also interested in natural history collections-based research and reproducible research principles.
November 11
Shelby Tisinai: "Do populations evolve by altering the frequency of alleles or their expression? Hypothesis tests in a mountain crucifer across an elevation gradient"
Advisor: Jeremiah Busch, Washington State
Talk summary: Understanding the drivers and mechanisms behind local adaptation is a major goal in evolutionary biology. To clarify the relative importance of constitutive gene expression for local adaptation, we sequenced total-RNA from five populations of Boechera stricta originally from a steep elevational gradient in the southern Rocky Mountains. With these and previously collected data, we ask if local adaptation is predominantly facilitated through diverging allele frequencies or diverging constitutive gene expression and (2) if genes with significantly divergent constitutive expression may be predicted based on functionality and environmental factors.
Speaker Bio: Shelby is a 6th year Ph.D. Candidate in the Busch Lab at Washington State University. Hailing from Colorado, USA, she has always been interested in mountain ecosystems and how plants respond to their environment. After completing her Ph.D., she hopes to continue to research how plant populations respond to a rapidly changing environment.
November 18
Haley Carter: "Causes and consequences of floral scent diversity in a rare evening primrose"
Advisor: Norm Wickett, Northwestern
Talk Summary: The strong scent of the night-blooming plant Oenothera harringtonii is composed of 35 volatile organic compounds and is strikingly variable across the species range in the common scent compound linalool. In this talk, I explore potential causes and consequences of variation in floral scent including interactions with both pollinating and predating insects, different modes of inheritance between compounds, and genes potentially underlying this variation.
Speaker Bio: Haley Carter is finishing her PhD in Plant Biology at Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. The computational and data science skills she has honed working on this dissertation have led her to a role as a computational biology specialist at Northwestern where she teaches workshops and supports the Genomics Compute Cluster. She intends to continue assembling plant genomes in addition to working on biomedical projects at Northwestern.
