Mechanisms of Diversification in Paper wasps
The Polistes paper wasps are one of the most specious group of social insects with ~300 species distributed across six continents. Paper wasps have an astonishing variety of facial and body coloration both within and between species. How and why are there so many species of paper wasps? My research uses museum collections, behavioral observations, de novo genome assembly, and population genomics datasets to provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms driving diversification in these amazing species.
Evolution of enhanced social cognition in P. fuscatus
Female northern paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus) have highly variable facial and body coloration. This individual variation is used as a signal to recognize nest mates and mediate social interactions. As a result, enhanced social cognition is a recent and novel innovation in P. fuscatus, making this species the "smartest" insect known to science. I am investigating the tempo and mode of selection for enhanced social cognition in P. fuscatus.
Adaptation to Biotic Selection in THREESPINE STICKLEBACK
My PhD work in the Schluter lab at the University of British Columbia examined the morphological, behavioral, and genetic response of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) to intraguild predation by prickly sculpin (Cottus asper). Intraguild predation is a specialized trophic interaction that occurs when a predator eats a prey species that is also a competitor. I compared stickleback from recently colonized populations (<10,000 years) differing only by the presence/absence of sculpin. This research revealed that the presence/absence of sculpin has led to parallel, genetically based, changes in body shape, diet preference, armour morphology, and social behavior. Even more remarkable, we found that adaptation to intraguild predation has occurred through parallel selection on over 600 genes.