The Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon IEE University of Oregon

People in the Laboratory

William A. Cresko, Principal Investigator
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I'm fascinated by the diversity of life, and the goal our lab is to understand how it arises. What genes and developmental processes are involved? How are changes in these systems integrated into genomes? How do these proximate mechanisms affect ultimate evolutionary processes? Our lab uses a combination of theoretical and empirical studies to address these and other evolutionary genetic questions.

Susan Bassham, Senior Research Associate

What are the developmental and genetic bases of evolution in natural populations? Using a variety of molecular genetic tools, I try to uncover genome-scale patterns that underlie phenotypic variation in wild populations of fish, and to direct this knowledge to the study of developmental pathways that contribute to novel or modified morphologies.

Mark Currey, Senior Research Assistant

Clay Small, Postdoctoral Research Associate

The characterization of transcriptomic phenotypes using RNA-seq is a promising approach for understanding how genomes serve as conduits for the origin, maintenance and modification of ecologically relevant traits. To this end, I study the male pregnancy transcriptome in syngnathid fishes, and how genotype-by-environment interactions affect the microbe-associated gastrointestinal transcriptome of threespine stickleback.

Martin Stervander, Postdoctoral Research Associate
mste@uoregon.edu

I am broadly interested in evolutionary biology and ecology, with a passion for birds. In my PhD project, I used traditional and “next generation” DNA sequencing to study speciation processes in several groups of birds, and focused on natural selection on bill morphology. In my postdoc project I keep my eye on the feeding apparatus, but go below the surface to study the development and evolution of the highly derived craniofacial morphology of pipefishes and seahorses.

Emily A Beck, Postdoctoral Research Associate

Kristin Alligood, Graduate Student

Thom Nelson, Graduate Student

I'm interested in the genetics of adaptation, and how complex traits evolve quickly in response to new or changing environments. Using threespine stickleback, I study how genomic architecture influences the transmission and maintenance of adaptive genetic variation.

Allison Fuiten, Graduate Student

My research interests involve how changes in the developmental pathways of organisms can result in the evolution of highly novel morphologies. I am interested in identifying the genetic changes that can lead to greatly derived morphologies and how highly conserved developmental genes become modified in different lineages.

John Crandall, Undergraduate Researcher

Pet Laboratory Members

In loving memory

Tustumena (Mena) Hulslander, 1998-2013





Past Laboratory Members

Cresko Lab 2015

Cresko Laboratory, Center for Ecology and Evolution at the University of Oregon
News Brief

September 2017 - Martin Stervander joins the Cresko Lab!


January 2017 - Kristin Alligood successfully defends Ph.D.


January 2017 - Allison Fuiten is awarded a DDIG from the NSF. See Lab News for more.


December 2016 - Gulf Pipefish genome paper published.


November 2016 - Bill Cresko elected AAAS Fellow.


April / July 2016 - Cresko Lab members receive six conference awards for posters or talks. See Lab News for more.


January / February 2016 - Susan Bassham appears in a short documentary and a more in-depth interview relating to the lab's recently published Middleton Island work. See Lab News or the link below for more.


December 2015 - "Evolution of stickleback in 50 years on earthquake-uplifted islands" paper published.


Lab News