Conservation Genomics

Andrew Whiteley is a professor of fisheries and conservation genomics in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. He has been a faculty member at UM since 2016.  Before that he was an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 2009 to 2015.  He went to grad school at the University of Montana and did postdocs at Université Laval in Quebec City and the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, Alaska.  Outside of work, Andrew enjoys trail running and mountain biking and other fun stuff to do outside in western Montana (he even occasionally attempts to catch fish!).

Ryan is originally from New Mexico, and moved to Montana in 2004 to attend the University of Montana.  He graduated from UM with a B.S. in wildlife biology in 2008.  He obtained a PhD in wildlife biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2012.  He was a Mendenhall Fellow with the USGS prior starting his career at FWP in 2019.  He originally moved to Montana for the fishing not the schooling, which makes him right at home with his peers at FWP (that, and the interest in hunting).  Most of all, he likes to tie big flies to throw at big fish. 

Sally Painter grew up outside of Seattle and graduated with a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Washington. She worked in Seattle at a biotech company until the traffic got unbearable and then moved to Missoula to work for Dr. Mary Poss, whose research focused on HIV and FIV virus evolution. She began working in the Montana Fish and Wildlife Genetics Lab in the mid-2000’s. When not working, she likes to spend time with her family or run the endless number of trails around Missoula.

Angela Lodmell grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and holds degrees from the University of Strathclyde and the University of Dundee. She has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University and the IGBMC near Strasbourg, France. She has three sons and took a 10-year hiatus from science to be at home with them. She joined the Montana Fish and Wildlife Genetics Lab in 2007. She enjoys hiking, backpacking and cross-country skiing.

Fred is a Regents Professor Emeritus at the University of Montana. He founded the MFWGL in 1976 when he was initially hired as a faculty member at the University of Montana. His research career has been driven by his belief that some of the most interesting basic scientific questions are also the most important applied questions for conservation. He has published over 200 articles on the population genetics and conservation of fish, amphibians, mammals, invertebrates, and plants. He has taught conservation genetics workshops in the US, Australia, South Africa, Costa Rica, and New Zealand.