Candidate for assistant professor of biology in genomics to discuss research Jan. 25, 2018

This week, the UAA Department of Biological Sciences invites you to two research seminars presented by candidates for assistant professor of biology in genomics. Drs. Caitlin Heil and Jesse Weber are two of four candidates to visit campus. Liana Burghardt spoke on campus Jan. 18; details on the fourth candidate presentation will be announced soon.

Genomics Research Seminar with Dr. Caitlin Heil Monday, Jan. 22, 2-3:30 p.m. Beatrice McDonald Hall, Room 119

Title: Genome Evolution and Adaptation in Hybrids Abstract: My research explores the evolutionary processes that create and maintain genetic variation, most recently, investigating how hybridization between different populations or species represents a potential evolutionary pathway for rapid adaptation to selective pressures. When two divergent genomes merge, new combinations of alleles are introduced simultaneously, acting as an instantaneous and abundant source of genetic variation. I utilize hybrids from the Saccharomyces yeast clade to understand if and how this variation aids a population in adaptation to novel environments. By creating de novo hybrids and evolving them for hundreds of generations in the laboratory, I demonstrate how mutations like loss of heterozygosity and transposable elements shape the genomes of hybrid populations, and how the environment influences the persistence of hybrid lineages. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving hybrid adaptation has industrial food and beverage applications, and is increasingly important in natural populations as habitat destruction and climate change increase hybridization by breaking down prezygotic reproductive isolation barriers and creating new ecological niches. Bio: Caiti Smukowski Heil is a evolutionary biologist and genomicist interested in how mutation, recombination, and hybridization aid in adaptation to new environments. She attended the University of Pennsylvania for her undergraduate studies, where she started her research career working with Paul Schmidt on overwintering adaptations in North American Drosophila. From there, she went on to do her PhD with Mohamed Noor at Duke University, where she worked on recombination rate variation in closely related populations and species. Caiti is currently a postdoctoral fellow with Maitreya Dunham in the Genome Sciences department at the University of Washington. She uses experimental evolution and genomics to understand how interspecies hybrids adapt to new conditions.

Genomics Research Seminar with Dr. Jesse Weber, Jan. 25 Thursday, Jan. 25, 2:30-4 p.m. UAA/APU Consortium Library, Room 307

Title: How a Fish Lost Its Worm: The Genetics and Ecology of Coevolution Abstract: How does genetic variation influence infection patterns in nature? What heritable host traits respond to natural selection by parasites, and vice versa? Are these adaptations generally beneficial, or only effective against a subset of competitors? Can we use data from common garden infection experiments to test models of coevolution, and also to design experiments that test how putatively adaptive alleles affect fitness in the wild? I use natural variation in cestode infections of threespine stickleback fish as a model to address these and many other questions relevant to the field of evolutionary genetics. Bio: Dr. Jesse Weber examines the genetic basis of complex adaptations. After receiving undergraduate degrees in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado-Boulder, he did his PhD research on burrowing behavior in deer mice (Hopi Hoekstra's Lab at Harvard University). Jesse has since performed postdoctoral projects that address horn evolution in rhinoceros beetles (Doug Emlen's Lab at the University of Montana) and host-parasite interactions (Dan Bolnick's Lab at the University of Texas at Austin). Dr. Weber's current and future research focuses on understanding the roles of genetics and ecology in coevolution between threespine stickleback fish and tapeworms. However, being a naturalist at heart, he is excited to continue studying the process adaptation across a great diversity of traits and organisms.

January Archive