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Research
interests:
Evolutionary and behavioral ecology of mammals, and conservation
genetics.
All of my research
projects are conducted in close collaboration with my graduate
and undergraduate students, besides numerous scientists in
evolutionary and conservation biology. Our research
on phylogeography
of African rodents is based on collaborations with scientist
at the Field Museum in Chicago. We also investigate
dispersal of the mosquito Aedes
aegypti within the framework of phylogeography and
landscape genetics. Furthermore, my Ph.D. student
Kavitha Damal and I collaborate with
Drs. Paul
Leisnham and
Steven Juliano on a study on
metapopulation dynamics of A. albopictus and A.
aegypti in urban Tampa, FL
My efforts to contribute to
wildlife conservation range from basic science questions,
such as the effects of pollutants on
mutation rates and selection in wild populations of mammals
to specific recommendations for the genetic management of
giant kangaroo
rats and American ginseng.
Previous research has emphasized questions on inbreeding
and dispersal in rodents as well as paternal care and
reproductive success in toque macaques, a threatened Sri Lankan
primate. We use a variety of field research techniques,
such as trapping
and collection of biological samples, radio telemetry, focal
observations and mapping of animal movements. Genetic analyses
in my laboratory may range from determination of paternity
and genetic diversity using mini- and microsatellite DNA fingerprinting
and single-copy nuclear DNA analysis to MHC typing via DGGE
analysiS.
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