The 7th annual Herpetology Symposium presents a plenary seminar by Dr. David Weisrock on “A Walk in the World of Salamander Genomics” on Nov. 10 at 5 p.m. in Walter 135.
Weisrock is Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Kentucky.
Dr. David Weisrock
“Research in the Weisrock Lab combines genetics, genomics, and evolutionary biology. Much of our research centers on using genetics to resolve the geographic boundaries of species in nature, reconstruct the relationships among these lineages, and address the mechanisms that have led to their formation. At the population level our research seeks to understand the adaptive and non-adaptive factors that influence gene flow and drive speciation. At a more macroevolutionary level we use phylogenetic approaches to resolve the evolutionary history of species assemblages and infer the rates at which they form,” according to his website.
“Research projects in our lab cover a broad taxonomic range, from speciation in North American Tiger Salamanders, to evolutionary diversification in Malagasy Lemurs. The advent of genomics has been especially valuable for our research and we increasingly focus our efforts on analytical approaches that permit the summarization of population-genetic and phylogenetic information from across the genome. As a corallary to this approach, we forge close collaborations with collegues in Statistics to develop new analytical approaches applicable to multi-locus data.”
The symposium, held with John Carroll University, is sponsored by the Ohio University Biological Sciences Department at and the Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies.
Refreshments are provided.
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