Adaptation in a Changing World

The Evolutionary & Ecological Genomics Lab, led by Michael Pfrender, is interested in a broad range of topics in the area of evolutionary and ecological genomics. The team aims to connect genome structure, quantitative genetic architecture, and patterns of gene expression and gene evolution with the process of, and limits to, adaptation in changing environments.

Anthropogenic influences have created an ecological context of rapidly changing environments. There are many unresolved questions at multiple levels of biological organization that confront the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. How will populations, species, and communities of organisms respond to novel species introductions and rapidly changing abiotic conditions? Can the probability of adaptations and long-term persistence be predicted?