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
