Adams's CV

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An outstanding biological question is how, and to what extent, the social environment affects the evolution of populations. Differential mating success (i.e. sexual selection) is a strong evolutionary force that is dependent on the social environment; as the complexity of the social environment increases, so does the opportunity for sexual selection. Understanding this dynamic holistically, from phenotype to genotype, is the focus of my dissertation research.

I am conducting an artificial selection experiment, using the model organism Mus musculus, to examine the response of a laboratory-adapted population to an increase in social complexity. Specifically, “Selected” lines compete for mating success in dense social populations and “Control” lines are bred under enforced monogamy. Comparisons between these two treatments have shown that ecologically-relevant behavioral differences arose in as little as two generations. Using a candidate gene approach, my current research focuses on the genetic and epigenetic basis of these phenotypic differences.