How do environments influence complex phenotypes?
We combine field-based research with physiological, behavioral, and molecular approaches to understand the mechanisms underlying phenotypic variation and the environments that drive it.
News
New publication from the lab, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, show differential methylation throughout the genome of nestlings dependent on the amount of care they receive as nestlings. Read about it here.
Congrats to Elise for being awarded a UDiscover Summer Research Fellowship (2026). She will be studying the effect of anthropomorphic disturbances on nestling songbird physiological stress.
New publication from work in the Women in STEM course. Read it here.
Other news:
Jillian and Elise were both awarded scholarships from South Dakota's Ornithological Union for the 2026-2027 academic year!
Andrea was awarded a Leadership Award from the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology at the 2026 meeting in Portland!
Using methylation data collected on chestnut-crowned babblers, we generated an epigenetic clock to assess deviations in aging. Read it here.