Know more

Kathryn's research aims to understand how biodiversity adapts to environmental challenges. These challenges may be anthropogenic or natural, for example to changing ecological conditions, geographic areas, or climates. What environmental conditions promote biodiversity and evolutionary potential, and by what underlying molecular mechanisms do adaptation and divergence occurs ? A primary focus is on the genetics of major adaptive traits, their role in diversification, and speciation.
To accomplish this Kathryn integrates genomic, bioinformatic, evolutionary and ecological approaches, particularly focusing on species complexes of freshwater fishes, amphibians, and reptiles ('ichs and herps'). Such closely related taxa in replicate radiations represent phylogenetically-controlled ‘speciation in action’, from the initial stages of population divergence through to behavioural and genetic isolation. Further, these species harbour exceptionally rich diversity and have high economic and conservation value. By spanning from phylogenetic perspectives through to microevolutionary processes she aims to resolve genotype-phenotype-fitness map in non-model organisms and their key functional traits such as parity mode or niche. This research has central relevance to myriad challenges that biodiversity faces in contemporary changing environments.

Evolutionary genetics and life history variation of oviparous and viviparous common lizards

Description of the seminar : "Reproduction by live-bearing or egg-laying is a fundamental dichotomy in the life history of amniotes. While it has a major influence on proximate individual-level biology and the long-term evolutionary diversification of lineages, the origins and consequences of alternative modes are poorly understood. I will discuss some of our recent findings on the evolutionary genomics of reproductive mode in ecological context, as explored in the reproductively bimodal common lizard (Zootoca vivipara)."

4 May at 11:00 a.m. in the Crouzette seminar room at SETE-CNRS and on Zoom

https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/96059536174?pwd=c0JaU1N2aE04NllnRGRmOUVWVU1GUT09

Host researcher at the SETE laboratory : Jean Clobert Jean.Clobert@Sete.Cnrs.Fr