The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "The Genomics of Adaptation to Salt Marsh Habitats in Sparrows," presented by Jennifer Walsh, postdoctoral associate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, on Monday, October 28, from 3:00 to 3:50 p.m. in Technology Building 160. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Abstract
Theory suggests that different taxa having colonized a similar, challenging environment will show parallel or lineage-specific adaptations to shared selection pressures, but empirical examples of parallel evolution in independent taxa are exceedingly rare. My research employs a comparative genomics approach to identify parallel and lineage-specific responses to selection in North American sparrows that have independently colonized tidal marsh habitats. My work highlights the interplay of shared and lineage-specific selection pressures in the colonization of challenging habitats and confirms theoretical expectations that steep environmental gradients can drive repeated and rapid diversification in birds.