Jane awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
CRE graduate student, Jane Pascar, is awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to investigate the evolution of insect microbiomes. Congratulations, Jane!
Welcome Jane!
We welcome a new graduate student, Jane Pascar, to the CRE!
Welcome Dr. Syed!
Dr. Zeeshan Syed joins the CRE as a Postdoctoral Fellow to investigate the evolutionary phenomics of Drosophila. Zee will be leading an ambitious, NSF-funded project that includes quantifying about 30 complex phenotypes for hundreds of Drosophila species. Zee received his PhD in 2017 from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, India, working with Dr. N.G. Prasad. Welcome aboard, Zee!
CRE grad gets Scholar Award!
Caitlin McDonough receives a prestigious Scholar Award from the Philanthropic Educational Organization to support her research on the reproductive tract secretome of Drosophila melanogaster.
National Science Foundation recommends funding to support Drosophila evolutionary phenomics research by the CRE
The NSF has recommended for funding our EAGR proposal to characterize the evolutionary phenomics of Drosophila and to explore of the genomics of biodiversity and adaptation. Approximately 300 species of Drosophila and related genera, including all those maintained by the Drosophila Species Stock Center, will be phenotyped for a set of morphological, behavioral, physiological and developmental traits that collectively capture core aspects of sexual selection and life-history syndromes, in addition to providing characters relevant to ecological selection. In addition to providing the basis for a valuable public database (look to the CRE website for developments!), the data will be used for two kinds of state-of-the-art comparative analyses. First, Bayesian phylogenetic modeling, applied to data for all species, will be used to evaluate rates of diversification and co-evolutionary dynamics among character states and across the clade using a range of alternative trait diversification models. Second, two complementary analytical approaches will be applied to all Drosophila species with fully-sequenced genomes to explore genotype-phenotype relationships for all traits, with the goals of identifying candidate genes underlying trait diversification and setting the stage for studies of the molecular evolution and genomic architecture of Drosophila biodiversity.
Welcome Dr. McCullough!
Dr. Erin McCullough joins the CRE as a Postdoctoral Fellow to investigate the evolution of post-ejaculatory modifications to sperm in several Drosophila species. Erin received her PhD from the University of Montana, working with Dr. Doug Emlen, and she recently completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship, working with Dr. Leigh Simmons at the University of Western Australia. Welcome aboard, Erin!
Westcott Community Center Outreach
Members of the Center for Reproductive Evolution and SU Biology have been involved in leading a science outreach program at the Westcott Community Center titled “Bridging Communities to Improve Proficiencies in Science,” funded by the Society for the Study of Evolution and the CRE. Each week faculty, postdocs, graduate, and undergraduate students engage with school-age students at the center providing opportunities for the participants to experience doing hands-on science experiments that mirror what is happening in labs around the university.
Welcome Sharleen!
We welcome our new Laboratory Manager, Sharleen Buel, to the CRE! She will be primarily working with Dr. Pitnick on the NSF-funded EAGER project.
CRE family reunion at the Biology of Spermatozoa meeting in England
Many current and past CRE members – including Yasir Ahmed-Braimah, Steve Dorus, Brian Gress, Stefan Lüpold, Mollie Manier, Caitlin McDonough, Scott Pitnick, Nalini Puniamoorthy and Emma Whittington – meet up at the 14th biennal Biology of Spermatozoa conference in Bakewell, England, near the Peaks District. Graduate students Caitlin McDonough and Emma Whittington gave two of the best talks at the conference. BoS is very posh yet riotous fun, and easily the most intellectually stimulating meeting we attend.
CRE members head to England to study the yellow dung fly
CRE members Gress, Pitnick, Dorus and Lüpold travel to Castleton, Derbyshire to investigate differences in the intensity of sexual selection on male body size of Scathophaga stercoraria, between sheep and cow pastures, before attending the 14th biennial Biology of Spermatozoa meeting.
