Research

I am a Behavioral Ecologist broadly interested in combining field and molecular methods to explore topics including sexual selection, mating systems, and evolution. I use rodents of the genus Peromyscus, microsatellites, DNA sequencing, (Solexa and Sanger methods) and cloning to explore ideas related to these central themes.

My Dissertation research includes:

1. The development of a quantatative measure of mating systems
2. Analysis of the effects of mating system on selection on MHC genes.
3. Patterns of selection on MHC genes in the genus Peromyscus
4. Characterization of vaginal bacterial flora in rodents with different mating systems

Other research (both current and previous):

1. Characterization of the hippocampal transcriptome in social versus non social rodents using Solexa sequencing
2. Phylogeography of Peromyscus eremicus and Peromyscus fraterculus in southern California
3. Construction of a multilocus Peromyscus phylogeny
4. DNA sequencing from 100 year-old museum skins
5. Cross-species amplification of microsatellites in Peromyscus (with Karen Mabry)