My research program focuses on the evolutionary ecology of fish populations, and the application of this information to conservation problems. I am especially interested in the evolutionary response of fish to novel environments. This problem is of particular interest because rapid environmental change was associated with rapid speciation of the pupfish family at the end of the Pleistocene. Today, many fish species once again face rapid environmental change due to human activities. Also, many conservation plans call for the establishment of so called "refuge" populations as a "hedge" against extinction. Many refuge populations encounter novel environmental conditions in terms of salinity, temperature and parasite communities. Research in my lab aims to understand the evolutionary responses of such populations to novel environments. Toward this end I employ molecular genetic surveys, field experiments and laboratory experiments.
