Dr. Eric J. Routman
My research concerns the genetic aspects of evolution and involves the use of molecular techniques to enhance our understanding of adaptation. My perspective is that evolution, properly understood, involves the action of four basic parameters: Ecology (phenotype-environment interaction), Genetic Architecture, Population Structure, and History. Because these parameters interact in complex ways, knowledge of all four is crucial to a complete understanding of any evolutionary process. Most evolutionary controversies occur because competing theories make different assumptions about these factors. My research, to some degree, involves all four of the above parameters. I am especially interested in the application of molecular biology to the study of genetic architecture, population structure, and historical biogeography. Recent advances in molecular biology have created exciting new possibilities for understanding these phenomena, especially when combined with new theoretical and analytical techniques.
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Graduate Student Researchers
Camille Smith
I am interested in population genetics and the evolutionary genetics of adaptation. I am currently studying gene flow as a force in maintaining population structure and whether microgeographic barriers to gene flow will have lasting effects on between population variation. I am working with the side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana, and the zebra-tail lizard, Callisaurus draconoides, in the Mojave National Preserve. These lizard species in particular have been shown to have extremely high levels of within population diversity, I will be using population genetic methods to analyze the mechanisms of the observed variation. I received my B.S. in biology with emphasis in physiology from San Francisco State University Spring 2012. Camille is the Vice President of the Graduate Student Council in Biology (GSCB) at SFSU and is a 2013-2014 ARCS Scholarship recipient.
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Noel Graham
Erica Rutherford
My thesis research will focus on comparing the intraspecific genetic diversity of four large-bodied lizard species. The locality where I’m working, the Cima Volcanic Field in the Mojave Desert, will be the same in which our lab has worked with other lizard species. I hypothesize that all four of my subjects will have lower genetic diversity than the smaller species commonly found at this site, and that of these four, the two carnivorous species will have a lower genetic diversity than the two herbivorous species. I received a B.S. in Biology from Longwood University in 2010.
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Alumni
Mike Hague
Mike is Currently getting his PhD in the Brodie lab at University of Virginia.
I study the population genetics of lizard species at the Cima Volcanic Field in the Mojave Desert. Our lab's recent survey of the side-blotched lizard population at the volcanic field discovered an extraordinary amount of genetic diversity at both mitochondrial and autosomal loci (Micheletti, Parra, & Routman, 2012). The diversity in the population on the small 150 sq. km. field was near the upper observed limit in vertebrates. At the same site, I am sampling four other lizard species, which all differ in ecology and demographic structure. I am conducting a population genetic analysis of mitochondrial and autosomal genes in each species. A comparative analysis of diversity in the four species, plus the side-blotched lizards, will help unravel the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for variation in genetic diversity among species. I also hope to narrow the possible explanations for the high level of genetic diversity found in the side-blotched lizards. I received my B.A. in Biology and Environmental Science from Whitman College in 2009.
Click here for pictures from Mike's field work
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I study the population genetics of lizard species at the Cima Volcanic Field in the Mojave Desert. Our lab's recent survey of the side-blotched lizard population at the volcanic field discovered an extraordinary amount of genetic diversity at both mitochondrial and autosomal loci (Micheletti, Parra, & Routman, 2012). The diversity in the population on the small 150 sq. km. field was near the upper observed limit in vertebrates. At the same site, I am sampling four other lizard species, which all differ in ecology and demographic structure. I am conducting a population genetic analysis of mitochondrial and autosomal genes in each species. A comparative analysis of diversity in the four species, plus the side-blotched lizards, will help unravel the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for variation in genetic diversity among species. I also hope to narrow the possible explanations for the high level of genetic diversity found in the side-blotched lizards. I received my B.A. in Biology and Environmental Science from Whitman College in 2009.
Click here for pictures from Mike's field work
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Casey Hubble
My thesis is designed to examine the relationship between terrestrial insect diversities abundances and soil salinity within the San Francisco Bay and Tomales Bay. I hypothesize that there will be more diverse communities within less saline marshes because it has been shown that fresh water marshes have a higher diversity of plant species compared with saline marshes. I received my B.A. in Biology in 2010 from San Francisco State.
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Contact Casey