Ecological, Evolutionary, and Landscape Genetics at UC Berkeley, CNR, ESPM
Ian authored a new R package for calculating shortest topographic distances and topographic least cost paths. The topoDistance package is available from CRAN, and the paper describing the package has been published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
In collaboration with André Lourenço, João Gonçalves, Filipe Carvalho, and Guillermo Velo‐Antón, Ian has a new paper in Molecular Ecology comparing the effects of reproductive mode on genetic connectivity in fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra).
Lourenco A., Goncalves J., Carvalho F., Wang I.J., and Velo-Anton G. (accepted) Comparative landscape genetics reveals the evolution of viviparity reduces genetic connectivity in fire salamanders. Molecular Ecology.
Erin Westeen was featured in the Herpetologist Highlight by the Herpetologists’ League. Read her interview to hear her thoughts on science, fieldwork, grad school, and her favorite herps!
Ian’s proposal to the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) has been funded! The grant will provide $899,000 for five years to study evolutionary responses to climate change.
Erin Westeen was awarded a research grant from the Berkeley chapter of Sigma Xi. The grant will support her dissertation work on the evolution of Sceloporus lizards.
Mike Yuan was awarded a grant from the UC Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology’s David and Marvalee Wake Fund to support his research on evolutionary convergence in Caribbean anoles.
Erin received a travel grant from the UC Berkeley Graduate Division. She will use the award to attend the Evolution Meeting in Providence, RI in June, where she will present her work on snake fang evolution.
Drew Hart was selected to receive a 2019 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award from the GSI Teaching and Resource Center. The award recognizes Drew’s exceptional achievements as a teacher for the computer lab section of our Landscape Ecology course.
Ian has a new paper on statistical phylogeography of the Anolis sericeus complex in Central America with collaborators Levi Gray, Anthony Barley, Steve Poe, Bob Thomson, and Adrian Nieto-Montes de Oca. This paper comprises the final chapter in Levi’s Ph.D. dissertation and is now published in Molecular Ecology.
32. Gray L.N., Barley A.J., Poe S., Thomson R.C.,
Nieto-Montes de Oca A., and Wang I.J. (2019) Phylogeography of a widespread lizard complex reflects patterns of both geographic and ecological isolation. Molecular Ecology, 28: 644-657.
Our lab won a UC Berkeley Excellence in Lab Safety Award – and that comes with a lab lunch and a door ribbon!