Bret Coggins

Biography

I am interested in how deterministic and stochastic forces shape the functional genetic variation available to respond to modern selection pressures and how that variation in turn shapes traits. I explore this using experimental evolution and comparative genomics within the Daphnia genus and its close relatives. Daphnia are well-suited for testing the repeatability of evolution due to their partially asexual life cycle and variable divergence times into similar environments. I am particularly interested in how evolution at different timescales and under multiple selection pressures shapes salinity tolerance as a complex and an increasingly ecologically relevant trait and how often the same functional solutions are achieved.

To view Bret's publications, visit GoogleScholar.