EE Focal Areas
The EE program is inherently integrative, but our research is organized into three major conceptual areas.
Evolution, Genetics, & Genomics
Nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution, and the sense of evolution is illuminated by genetics. We use the tools of modern genomics to understand patterns of natural variation and the processes that generate them. Our research addresses questions about selfish evolution and population variation, sexual selection and adaptation, reproductive isolation and speciation, and genome evolution, co-evolution and diversification, in taxa from across the tree of life.
Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation
We address fundamental questions about the ecology and behavior of plant and animal species, the dynamics of populations, the distribution of species, and the composition of communities. Our location in the Northern Rockies provides unparalleled access to field sites in intact ecosystems, and also motivates research focused on understanding and mitigating the impacts of invasive species and other anthropogenic disturbances.
Physiology & Organismal Function
Living organisms are concrete entities, built of muscle or xylem or chitin, as well as products of evolution and players in ecology. Faculty in this area focus on understanding how organisms develop and function in their environments, with interests range from the physics of flight to the regulation of stress hormones to the physiology of adaptation to environmental extremes. In addition, most faculty in other focal areas also study aspects of organismal function or physiology (and vice versa...)