Research in the Whiteman Lab
Research in our laboratory all focuses on understanding how species interactions drive adaptation.
Three research themes fall under this larger umbrella:
Parasites are incredibly successful ecologically and evolutionarily, and our research helps us understand how these organisms evolved. Parasites cause enormous harm to crops, livestock and companion animals, wildlife and humans. Using model systems may help to identify common mechanisms parasites evolved to colonize and live in their hosts, allowing for better control strategies.
Most researchers in our group study interactions between drosophilid flies and their host plants. We have developed a new model system for studying plant-herbivore interactions, involving the drosophilid fly Scaptomyza flava and the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which it attacks in nature. We also conduct genetic engineering in the 'fruit' or vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster to study the function of loci involved in herbivory. This research is supported by an R35 Outstanding Investigator Award (Maximizing Investigator's Research Award for Early State Investigators) from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (1R35GM119816) of the National Institutes of Health. We are grateful for this support.
A smaller, but significant lab project involves the broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). We use that system to identify the genomic architecture underlying variation in foraging traits, and to understand the evolutionary history of those loci. This is a collaborative project with Ph.D. candidate Nicolas Alexandre, Professor Mary (Cassie) Stoddard at Princeton University and Professor David Inouye at the RMBL. Ph.D. student Tim O'Connor has developed his own model system, involving creosote plant and its community of herbivores.
We welcome contact from prospective collaborators, lab members and others. Professor Whiteman is a Principal Investigator in the Center for Computational Biology and can advise Ph.D. and undergraduate students in this program, in addition to students in the Department of Integrative Biology. Professor Whiteman is also an affiliated faculty member of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and faculty curator of plant-animal coevolution in the University and Jepson Herbaria. To learn more, please visit individual lab member pages or email Professor Whiteman.
I encourage you to visit the individual pages of researchers associated with my laboratory in order to understand the breadth and depth of our interests.
Thanks for reading!
Noah
Three research themes fall under this larger umbrella:
- The first theme focuses on understanding how species interactions can act to maintain genetic variation within populations. Primarily we use two species that are likely involved in diffuse co-evolutionary interactions in nature: an herbivorous drosophilid fly
- The second theme focuses on understanding how toxins mediate species interactions. Specifically, how toxins evolve, how they are perceived, resisted and even co-opted.
- The last theme
Parasites are incredibly successful ecologically and evolutionarily, and our research helps us understand how these organisms evolved. Parasites cause enormous harm to crops, livestock and companion animals, wildlife and humans. Using model systems may help to identify common mechanisms parasites evolved to colonize and live in their hosts, allowing for better control strategies.
Most researchers in our group study interactions between drosophilid flies and their host plants. We have developed a new model system for studying plant-herbivore interactions, involving the drosophilid fly Scaptomyza flava and the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which it attacks in nature. We also conduct genetic engineering in the 'fruit' or vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster to study the function of loci involved in herbivory. This research is supported by an R35 Outstanding Investigator Award (Maximizing Investigator's Research Award for Early State Investigators) from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (1R35GM119816) of the National Institutes of Health. We are grateful for this support.
A smaller, but significant lab project involves the broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). We use that system to identify the genomic architecture underlying variation in foraging traits, and to understand the evolutionary history of those loci. This is a collaborative project with Ph.D. candidate Nicolas Alexandre, Professor Mary (Cassie) Stoddard at Princeton University and Professor David Inouye at the RMBL. Ph.D. student Tim O'Connor has developed his own model system, involving creosote plant and its community of herbivores.
We welcome contact from prospective collaborators, lab members and others. Professor Whiteman is a Principal Investigator in the Center for Computational Biology and can advise Ph.D. and undergraduate students in this program, in addition to students in the Department of Integrative Biology. Professor Whiteman is also an affiliated faculty member of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and faculty curator of plant-animal coevolution in the University and Jepson Herbaria. To learn more, please visit individual lab member pages or email Professor Whiteman.
I encourage you to visit the individual pages of researchers associated with my laboratory in order to understand the breadth and depth of our interests.
Thanks for reading!
Noah