Research

My research encompasses behavioural ecology, molecular evolution, phylogenetics & quantitative genetics

I am originally trained as a behavioural ecologist where I studied sexual selection on the courtship song of field crickets.  During my masters I became interested in understanding the genetic basis of behaviour especially in the context of evolution.  I am currently working on the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, with Marla Sokolowski at the University of Toronto in collaboration with Trudy Mackay (North Carolina State University). The major focus of my dissertation is to uncover the genetic basis to the naturally occurring allelic polymorphism responsible for divergent foraging strategies. Rovers (for^R) travel long distances while feeding and will often leave a food source in search of another. Sitters (for^s) travel shorter distances and generally prefer to remain on a food source. Although we know that rovers have higher RNA transcript levels and higher protein activity levels than sitters, we do not know the underlying difference between the two alleles.