Ken Petren

My research addresses fundamental questions of ecology and evolution, often by taking advantage of island systems. My main interests are in population divergence, speciation and community formation. I use a wide range of empirical tools to synthesize concepts from diverse fields. Different molecular markers provide historical information at different but complementary time scales which can bridge the gap between populations and species. Field and laboratory experiments connect individual behavior to species interactions and community formation.      Ken's CV

John Niedzwiecki, Ph.D.

John's postdoctoral research includes using multilocus genetic markers to address questions of population divergence, directional migration, hybridization and natural selection in Darwin's finches.  John's Ph.D. dissertation was on phylogeographis differentiation in Ambystoma salamanders.

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Andrew Clack, MS

Andrew is performing multilocus genotyping museum specimen tissue to directly assess population changes over time, population extinction and the population history of declining populations of Darwin's finches.

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Kristen Harfmann

Kristen is using an experimental approach to quantify the effect of habitat structure on the foraging and social dynamics of invasive gecko lizards.

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Heather Farrington

Heather is taking a comprehensive view of phylogenetic differentiation in Darwin's finches by using sequence variation from more than two dozen nuclear loci.

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Ashley Allemang

Ashley is studying clonally reproducing geckos to test whether habitat choice and boldness are innate or acquired.  These traits are ecologically important and can affect patterns of invasion.

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