November 8, 2011
Entomologist presents at ninth Ecological Genomics Symposium
Jeremy Marshall, associate professor of entomology, was an invited speaker at the ninth Ecological Genomics Symposium, Nov. 4-6, in Kansas City, Mo. Marshall presented "Speciation Genetics in the Age of -omics and Systems Biology" to an audience of approximately 100 evolutionary biologist and ecologists who attended the annual conference organized by the K-State Ecological Genomics Institute.
Ecological genomics is an integrative field of study that seeks to understand the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptive responses of organisms to their environment. Marshall's primary interest is understanding the evolution and genetic basis of adaptive phenotypes. He has investigated a range of adaptive phenotypes including body size, longevity, fecundity, egg diapause, thermal tolerance, courtship behavior, sperm competition and oviposition. He has been especially interested in two main topics: (1) the genetics of speciation and (2) the dynamics of genes and phenotypes that exhibit environmental clines. Although he uses a variety of animals in hisresearch, his focal system is the Allonemobius socius complex of crickets. More on Marshall's research is available here.