I am interested in the evolutionary processes driving and shaping adaptation and the genetic basis of such adaptations. My postdoctoral research will focus on 1) variation in fertility in wild caught house mice and 2) the genetic basis and population genetics of coat color variation among rock pocket mice (Chaetodipus intermedius) found on and near lava flows in the NM and AZ desert.

My doctoral research focused on understanding how environmental heterogeneity affects the evolution of natural populations. Organisms residing in the rocky intertidal regions of the northern Atlantic Ocean experience significant and, to some extent, predictable variation in abiotic conditions including temperature, humidity, wind and wave exposure. The intertidal has been a "model system" for ecologists for decades and my research utilized known information about abiotic gradients and ecological relationships to better understand the evolutionary consequences of environmental heterogeneity.

My study organism was the rocky intertidal snail Littorina obtusata. Across multiple geographical scales, L. obtusata show striking patterns of color variation, suggesting that selection is acting on this trait. Using an inferential and an experimental approach, we investigated the forces contributing to the maintenance of shell color polymorphism in this species. We documented consistent clines in shell color morph frequencies in the Gulf of Maine across multiple spatial scales. In addition, experimental manipulations directly link shell color to fitness under stressful thermal regimes. Characterization of neutral structure in this species contrasts with patterns of shell color variation, further supporting a selective explanation for the clines.