Update to new research project

I think I finally know what I'm going to study for the next five years. Check out the "Research Interests" page for more details!

To entice you to read what's in that page, here's a picture I took June 17, 2014 in Oregon of my study system:

Here you can see whelks surrounded by their food, barnacles and mussels. Not a bad way to live!

New research project

My new research project involves examining local adaptation in the intertidal snail Nucella canaliculata. I am interested in examining how it is locally adapted to its mussel prey and seawater pH. I hope to identify adaptive traits and quantify their genetic basis. My study sites will be along the west coast of the US. I will of course post more details on this when I have written a formal proposal. I'm excited!

Here is a picture from Sanford and Worth 2009 of the Nucella canaliculata with its egg mass:

I'll need help with field work starting in about a year, so if you are interested in looking through some rocky intertidal habitats, keep it in the back of your mind, and I will ask for formal help when the time comes. 

Paper reference: Sanford, E., and D. J. Worth. 2009. Genetic differences among populations of a marine snail drive geographic variation in predation. Ecology 90:3108–18.