THE WHITEMAN LABORATORY
  • Home
  • Group Members
    • Principal Investigator, Dr. Noah Whiteman
    • Research Specialist Susan Bernstein
    • Postdoctoral Researchers and Research Associates >
      • Dr. Moe Bakhtiari
      • Dr. Teruyuki Matsanaga
      • Dr. Carolina Reisenman
    • Graduate Students >
      • Jessica Aguilar
      • Nicolas Alexandre
      • Diler Haji
      • Julianne Pelaez
      • Hiromu Suzuki
      • Rebecca Tarnopol
      • Kirsten Verster
    • Undergraduate Students >
      • Sneha Agrawal
      • Saron Akalu
      • Michael Astourian
      • Ashley Bendl
      • Bridget Cheng
      • Anna Leipertz
      • Irene Liang
      • Gillian Montross
      • Elizabeth Ordeman
      • Anna Pham
      • Giovani Pimentel-Solorio
      • Esteban Rodas
      • Faye Romero
      • Marissa Sandoval
      • Haarini Sridhar
      • Shivani Sundaram
      • Kannagi Yashroy
      • Derrick Yip
    • Former members >
      • Dr. Marianna Karageorgi
      • Kevin Miao
      • Dr. Rebecca Duncan
      • Kelly D'Ambrogia
      • Jiarui Wang
      • Tim O'Connor
      • Judith Okoro
      • William Farley
      • Dr. Cathy Rushworth
      • Andy Gloss
      • Benjamin Goldman-Huertas
      • Alana Augur
      • Hoon Pyon
      • Julianne Ray
      • Dr. Simon "Niels" Groen
      • Dr. David Hembry (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Jennifer Koop (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Anna Nelson Dittrich (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Rick Lapoint (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Paul Nabity (USDA-NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Christina Meyer
      • Parris Humphrey
      • Lea Flechon
      • Research Specialist, Tim Rast
      • Amir Abidov
      • Allan Castillo
      • Matt Cravens
      • Mitchell Feldmann
      • Jason Giles
      • Lauren Johnston
      • Noel Kitchen
      • Erika LaPlante
      • Matthew J. Velasquez
    • Internal page >
      • Protocols
      • Recommended Reading
  • Research
  • Publications
  • DEI
    • #leadership
    • #participation
    • #recruitment
    • #belonging
    • #accountability
  • Join
  • Contact
  • "Monarch Fly"

Research in the Whiteman Lab

Research in our laboratory focuses on understanding how species interactions drive adaptation. Two research themes fall under this larger umbrella:
  • The first theme focuses on understanding how species interactions can act to maintain genetic variation within populations. 
  • The second theme focuses on understanding how toxins mediate species interactions. Specifically, how toxins evolve, how they are perceived, resisted and even co-opted. Toxins of biological origin can become keystone molecules, supporting the evolution and integration of diverse phenotypic modules in animals. The evolution of toxicity transforms animals from cryptic to conspicuous, nocturnal to diurnal, small to big, fast to slow, solitary to social, local to widespread, neglectful to doting parents and short- to long-lived. But toxicity is not only restricted to gaudy animals. A parallel transformation unfolded as cells of the animal immune system became armed with an arsenal of novel toxins.

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 adaption to toxic plants. ​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
The Whiteman Lab | Integrative Biology | University of California | Berkeley, CA 94720

Photographs are copyright protected by Noah Whiteman, Whiteman lab members, or were obtained through Creative Commons licenses.
  • Home
  • Group Members
    • Principal Investigator, Dr. Noah Whiteman
    • Research Specialist Susan Bernstein
    • Postdoctoral Researchers and Research Associates >
      • Dr. Moe Bakhtiari
      • Dr. Teruyuki Matsanaga
      • Dr. Carolina Reisenman
    • Graduate Students >
      • Jessica Aguilar
      • Nicolas Alexandre
      • Diler Haji
      • Julianne Pelaez
      • Hiromu Suzuki
      • Rebecca Tarnopol
      • Kirsten Verster
    • Undergraduate Students >
      • Sneha Agrawal
      • Saron Akalu
      • Michael Astourian
      • Ashley Bendl
      • Bridget Cheng
      • Anna Leipertz
      • Irene Liang
      • Gillian Montross
      • Elizabeth Ordeman
      • Anna Pham
      • Giovani Pimentel-Solorio
      • Esteban Rodas
      • Faye Romero
      • Marissa Sandoval
      • Haarini Sridhar
      • Shivani Sundaram
      • Kannagi Yashroy
      • Derrick Yip
    • Former members >
      • Dr. Marianna Karageorgi
      • Kevin Miao
      • Dr. Rebecca Duncan
      • Kelly D'Ambrogia
      • Jiarui Wang
      • Tim O'Connor
      • Judith Okoro
      • William Farley
      • Dr. Cathy Rushworth
      • Andy Gloss
      • Benjamin Goldman-Huertas
      • Alana Augur
      • Hoon Pyon
      • Julianne Ray
      • Dr. Simon "Niels" Groen
      • Dr. David Hembry (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Jennifer Koop (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Anna Nelson Dittrich (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Rick Lapoint (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Paul Nabity (USDA-NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Christina Meyer
      • Parris Humphrey
      • Lea Flechon
      • Research Specialist, Tim Rast
      • Amir Abidov
      • Allan Castillo
      • Matt Cravens
      • Mitchell Feldmann
      • Jason Giles
      • Lauren Johnston
      • Noel Kitchen
      • Erika LaPlante
      • Matthew J. Velasquez
    • Internal page >
      • Protocols
      • Recommended Reading
  • Research
  • Publications
  • DEI
    • #leadership
    • #participation
    • #recruitment
    • #belonging
    • #accountability
  • Join
  • Contact
  • "Monarch Fly"