Common Themes in Reproductive Diversity: Trainees

Our goal is to attract and retain talented and diverse trainees to earn Ph.D.s in their home departments and programs with an emphasis on interdisciplinary training that emphasizes sexual development and reproductive behavior. We will also provide advanced training to recent Ph.D.s.

We are pleased to introduce our fourth cohort of predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees, for the 2008-2009 year. The deadline for applications for the next open postdoctoral trainee line is 1 September, 2008 for a line that must be occupied before 30 April, 2009.

2008-2009 Trainees

	Jonathan Atwell: Jonathan’s dissertation projects focus on evaluating how associated hormonal, immunological, morphological, and behavioral traits have responded in integrated or independent ways following a unique colonization event, in which a historically montane-breeding songbird (the Dark-eyed junco) established an isolated population in an urban, coastal environment. This system provides an ideal opportunity to study rapid evolution and adaptive plasticity, and Jonathan is investigating these questions with respect to population differences, sex differences, seasonality, and patterns of trait covariation.
	Yaniv Brandvain: Yaniv works on the evolutionary consequences of systems of mating, such as inbreeding/outbreeding and monandry/polyandry. He is currently considering how inbreeding effects the probability of fixation of good gene combinations, and is also examining the evolution of genomic imprinting under differing mating systems with both theory and data.
	Susannah French: Susannah's postdoctoral research will investigate the occurrence and regulation of physiological trade-offs between vital life-history processes; in particular, how energy is allocated between the reproductive and immune systems using the Siberian hamster model (Phodopus sungorus). She's also interested in how organisms regulate and maintain these key life-history processes in the face of a changing environment, especially specific aspects of anthropogenic (e.g., introduction of pathogens; degradation of habitat; altered resource availability) influence using the Galapagos marine iguana model (Amblyrhynchus cristatus).
	Timothy Greives: Tim's research attempts to uncover how environmentally relevant cues are integrated by organisms allowing appropriate alteration of reproductive status. For instance, it would be detrimental for most animals to give birth during the winter, when thermoregulatory energy demands are high and food availability is low. Currently he is focusing on the role the neuropeptide kisspeptin plays in this process, investigating its effects in hamsters housed in "summer-like" and "winter-like" photoperiods.
	Dawn O'Neal: Dawn's dissertation research takes a comparative approach to investigating potential mechanisms (e.g., immune function) mediating the evolution of sex differences in migratory behavior in the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis). Specifically, her research deals with the effect of environment (i.e. winter climate and recent warming events) on wintering birds and their decisions regarding choice of winter location and the effects of this choice on winter health and survival.
	Heather Rupp: Heather's postdoctoral resesarch will investigate the cognitive processing of sexual stimuli using comparative models across species, while combining behavioral, psychophysiological, and functional neuroimaging techniques to help uncover the role of the brain in sexual arousal.

Past Trainees

	Jennifer Akst: Jef is investigating the effects of the operational sex ratio (OSR) on the opportunities for selection (I) on both sexes in wild populations of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus. In addition, she is looking at the pairbonds that form between males and females during a breeding season and examining the effects of size similarity of the mates, latency from bond formation, and degree of successful brood formation on the strength of the pairbond. Jef is a continuing student who is currently supported by a fellowship.
	Idelle Cooper: Idelle’s dissertation focuses on the evolution of sex differences, particularly by natural selection. She is examining color patterns and ecological niche type in the Hawaiian Megalagrion damselfly phylogeny. In particular, she is interested in identifying the adaptive significance of a female-limited color dimorphisms that include male mimicry. Idelle is a continuing student who is currently supported by an IGERT fellowship in the Evolution of Development.
	Britt Heidinger: Britt's dissertation research was designed to investigate whether modifications of the stress response underlie age-related changes in reproductive effort. Britt has completed her studies and is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Pat Monaghan, Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow.
	Liz Lehman: The main focus of Liz's dissertation research was examining the role of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) eggs as an antipredator mechanism, examining the effect of egg toxicity on reproductive success. Liz has completed her studies and has a position in the Education department at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ.
	Kathryn Lenz: Katy's dissertation research focuses on the effects of early maternal care on neural and behavioral development. Specifically, Katy examines whether alterations in maternal licking influence the development of the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) in rats, a motor nucleus in the lumbar spinal cord involved in the production of male sexual behavior.
	Joel McGlothlin: Joel's dissertation research focused on the evolution of groups of traits used by males to obtain mates. Specifically, he examines the role of sexual selection in shaping patterns of integration among morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits. Joel has completed his studies and is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Butch Brodie, Department of Biology, University of Virginia.'
	Mayté Ruiz: Mayté studies courtship behavior in sagebrush lizards, Sceloporus graciosus. Her research focuses on the interactions between male courtship display and female reproductive state. She is also interested in examining the costs associated with courtship in S. graciosus.
	Sarah Schaack: Sarah studies the impact of different reproductive strategies on the evolution of the genome. Specifically, she focuses on the influence of recombination (or sex) on the gain and loss of transposable elements in Daphnia pulex, a freshwater microcrustacean.
	Lynn Siefferman: Lynn's postdoctoral research investigated the proximate determinants and evolutionary significance of blue coloration in the feathers (microstructure) and eggs (biliverdin pigments) of eastern bluebirds. Lynn has completed her studies and is an Assistant Professor at Appalachian State University.
	Devin Zysling: Devin's dissertation research goals are to elucidate the physiological mechanisms underlying seasonal variation in immune response, and to characterize energetic trade-offs between reproduction and immune function, using the Siberian hamster (Phodopus sungorus), a small, seasonally breeding mammal that requires long days (LD) for reproductive activity. Devin is a continuing student who is currently supported as a CISAB scholar.