The impacts of anthropogenic and climate change on organisms within and across generations
One project in my lab will involve using an “evolve and re-sequence” experimental approach to understand the evolution of thermal tolerance and plasticity in order to predict how populations will adapt and persist under climate change. Copepods are small marine crustaceans that are some of the most abundant animals on the planet. Tigriopus copepods lives in shallow splash pools in the high intertidal zone of rocky shores and have become models for studying stress tolerance and ecophysiology because they are extremely resistant to variation in temperature and are a perfect system for experimental evolution experiments given their short generation time and easy culturing in the lab. This project will use multiple approaches including: 1) direct measurements of thermal tolerance and physiology and 2) molecular data (genomic and gene expression) throughout the experiment to measure evolution in action.
One project in my lab will involve using an “evolve and re-sequence” experimental approach to understand the evolution of thermal tolerance and plasticity in order to predict how populations will adapt and persist under climate change. Copepods are small marine crustaceans that are some of the most abundant animals on the planet. Tigriopus copepods lives in shallow splash pools in the high intertidal zone of rocky shores and have become models for studying stress tolerance and ecophysiology because they are extremely resistant to variation in temperature and are a perfect system for experimental evolution experiments given their short generation time and easy culturing in the lab. This project will use multiple approaches including: 1) direct measurements of thermal tolerance and physiology and 2) molecular data (genomic and gene expression) throughout the experiment to measure evolution in action.
The role of plasticity in species interactions, linking organisms and their ecosystems
Anthropogenic stressors are not experienced in isolation but are layered on top of existing biotic pressures that may demand contradicting responses from the focal organism. To better understand how climate change, particularly ocean acidification, may impact predator-prey interactions, we will work with intertidal Nucella whelk snails, important meso-predators in the rocky intertidal system. pH is a relevant stressor as it impacts shell thickness, a critical part of their anti-predator defense. We will use a combination of experimental strategies including: 1) phenotypic and molecular comparisons of wild snails across paired populations along the Gulf of Maine, 2) controlled experiments in the lab to understand the consequences of pH and predator stress on behavior and morphology, and 3) field surveys and manipulations to understand how changes in feeding behavior impact rocky intertidal invertebrate cover.
Anthropogenic stressors are not experienced in isolation but are layered on top of existing biotic pressures that may demand contradicting responses from the focal organism. To better understand how climate change, particularly ocean acidification, may impact predator-prey interactions, we will work with intertidal Nucella whelk snails, important meso-predators in the rocky intertidal system. pH is a relevant stressor as it impacts shell thickness, a critical part of their anti-predator defense. We will use a combination of experimental strategies including: 1) phenotypic and molecular comparisons of wild snails across paired populations along the Gulf of Maine, 2) controlled experiments in the lab to understand the consequences of pH and predator stress on behavior and morphology, and 3) field surveys and manipulations to understand how changes in feeding behavior impact rocky intertidal invertebrate cover.