Dr. Kerry Shaw, Principle Investigator |
The research in my laboratory investigates behavioral evolution and ecological traits important to mate choice and the nature and origin of species. A major focus is understanding underlying genetic and genomic causes to variation in these traits, and how their evolution has resulted in both species boundaries and the phylogenetic distribution of variation among species. In this context, we also study species level phylogenies and rapid species radiations. We conduct much of our work in Hawaii where rapid speciation has produced many insect species radiations. We specialize on Hawaiian crickets, a group comprising over 250 endemic species. |
Niko Hensley, Postdoc |
I am interested in the evolution of animal behaviors, both at the proximate and ultimate levels. I did my PhD with Dr. Todd Oakley at UC Santa Barbara working on how biochemistry and molecular evolution shape the bioluminescent mating displays of Caribbean seed shrimp. As an NSF postdoc working with Dr. Shaw on the Laupala system, I wish to explore how variation in neurosensory systems may contribute to ecological assembly, and the consequences this may have on speciation. For more information, please see my personal website here.
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Bhaavya Srivastava, PhD Student |
I am interested in how Laupala crickets use cuticular hydrocarbons on their exoskeletons to make mating choices, and how this plays into sexual selection and speciation. She got her bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Vanderbilt University in 2018, and before that, studied in India, China, and the US. |
Raunak Sen, PhD Student |
I am interested in reproductive isolating barriers and how they behave in the face of gene flow. For my questions, I plan to work in a hybrid zone of the Laupala crickets to look at mating patterns and extent and direction of gene flow. I would be addressing these questions through the lens of animal behavior and population genomics. |
Wout van der Heide, PhD Student
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I am a second year graduate student in the field of Neurobiology and Behavior. I am fascinated by how evolutionary processes give rise to organismal complexity. My current research investigates my interest in the evolution and divergence of the acoustic niche and its impact on gene flow speciation . I am interested in figuring forces causing character displacement in acoustic behaviors.
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Peyton DiSiena, Undergraduate research student |
I am an undergraduate student studying the molecular evolution of genes involved in the generation of cuticular hydrocarbons. |