I’m excited to welcome Phil Douchinsky to the Puckett Lab! Phil had been working as a research technician on a conservation genomics project looking at gene flow in fish across the landscape. For his MS, he will compare and contrast isolation by resistance of black (Ursus americanus) and brown (U. arctos) bears across the Southeastern Alaskan landscape.
The Puckett Lab hosted Dr. Loren Cassin Sackett for seminar. Dr. Cassin Sackett studies how introduced parasites affect genomic diversity and population persistence in native wildlife populations. Her talk was titled, “The consequences of introduced pathogens on host evolution” and focused on studies in prairie dogs and Hawai’i ‘amakihi.
Very excited to welcome Heather Clendenin to the Puckett Lab! Heather recently finished her MS at the University of Idaho where she investigated sibling relatedness in gray wolves (Canis lupus). For her PhD, she will estimate genetic load in black bear (Ursus americanus) populations with varying demographic histories.
Very excited to welcome Matthew Pollard to the Puckett Lab! Matthew recently finished his MS at Cardiff University where he was investigating the Y-chromosome of brown bears (Ursus arctos). For his PhD, he will work on comparative genomics of bears.
I am ecstatic to join the faculty at the University of Memphis as an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department. The Puckett Lab will open Fall 2018 and focus on phylogeography and evolutionary genomics within the bear family.
If you are interested in joining the lab, please see the “Positions in the Lab” page for current information on positions.
In 2008 I graduated with my MS from Larry Smart’s Lab at SUNY-ESF. Larry gives his students a personalized graduation gift, something that reflects the rapport he had with each student. Mine included a hunter green sweatshirt, a hunter green picnic blanket, and a green water bottle because as he said, “she needs more green stuff.” So yes, SUNY-ESF’s school colors are green and gold, but I’m pretty sure he had Michigan State University in mind with my hunter graduation gifts. Larry went to MSU for his PhD, and I went to NC State for undergrad whose school colors are red and white. During my 2nd year in his lab, NCSU and MSU played each other in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge and Larry and I bet on our respective teams, loser bakes the winner dessert in school spirit colors. I made cupcakes with bright green frosting. But apparently all that hunter apparel was just getting me ready for 2017…
I started a postdoctoral position in the Bradburd Lab at MSU. I will work on spatial and temporal population genomics. I’m really looking forward to learning new modeling skills.
Today is the first day of my postdoc with Jason Munshi-South at Fordham University! I’m super excited about starting this position and not just because I get to go to work everyday in a mansion (see below). The Munshi-South Lab focuses on adaptation to the urban environment. I think this is a really unique way to think about the forces that shape selection particularly rapid adaptation on shorter time scales. In 2009 the United Nations estimated half the world’s human population lived in urban areas and that the percentage will continue to rise. By studying species with both shorter generation times and closer contact with the urban environment (ex- pollutants, artificial lighting, linearized environments), we hope to gain an understanding of how selection responds to urbanization. This may provide insight into how humans are also adapting to urbanization.
The project that I will work on focuses on brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). Brown rats are not native to North America and were introduced via ships coming from Europe in the 1700-1800s. So before we can understand how selection has acted upon their genomes, we must first understand where their genomes came from as we hypothesize substantial admixture in North American populations. (Hmm, phylogeography and admixture, that sounds like something I know about.)
Beyond the project, I’m excited to work with new lab mates, always a fun part of science!
Calder Hall at the Louis Calder Center, Fordham University
I created this website in large part because I am looking for postdoctoral research opportunities. I anticipate graduating in May 2015 and starting a new position shortly thereafter. My current research interests are below; additionally, you can find links to my publications here. I would be happy to discuss project ideas or university specific fellowship opportunities that may fund my time in your lab. Please contact me: EEPuckett at mizzou dot edu, or via Twitter.
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in both the spatial and temporal distribution of genetic variation in functional and neutral loci. Regarding the spatial distribution, I am interested in geographic barriers leading to within species lineage diversification and range expansion processes, particularly the adaptive potential of range expansion for widespread species. Regarding the temporal distribution, I am interested in both the timing of either de novo mutations or changes in standing allele frequency variation as an adaptive response to climatic change. I am also interested in incomplete lineage sorting.
Puckett Lab 