Members of my research group are motivated to understand the diversification of aquatic animal life, with a focus on the evolution of teleost fishes. We use molecular phylogenetic systematics and related statistical methods to identify genomic signatures of natural selection and reproductive isolation within and among populations. I encourage my students to apply comparative methods to the study of co-evolving lineages, such as mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, microbial symbionts and their hosts, and codistributed freshwater taxa. This information advances basic scientific understanding of biological complexity, which is an underappreciated natural resource. We use similar tools to study environmental DNA (eDNA) sequences, which provide estimates of diversity and relative abundance of species living in aquatic environments. This information enables state and federal agencies to make better decisions about how to manage threatened and endangered species. Our ultimate goal is to conserve freshwater biodiversity, because freshwater animals rank among the most imperiled species on the planet. In order to accomplish this goal, we highlight the societal benefits brought by healthy local aquatic ecosystems, especially those relating to human health.
www.sandellab.org
Education
Postdoctoral Training Certificate - Section on Statistical Genetics
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
2014
Doctor of Philosophy - Biological Sciences
The University of Alabama
2012
Bachelor of Science - Biological Sciences
The Ohio State University
2004
Associate of Applied Science - Aerospace Technology
The Community College of the Air Force
2003
Recent Publications
Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of five rockfishes (Perciformes: Sebastes)
Mitochondrial DNA Part B
2018
Mitochondrial–nuclear genetic interaction modulates whole body metabolism, adiposity and gene expression in vivo
EBioMedicine
2018
Complete Genome Sequences of Mycobacteriophages Kwksand96 and Cane17
Microbiology Resource Announcements
2018
Genome Sequence of a Newly Isolated F2 Subcluster Mycobacteriophage from the Black Belt Geological Region of Western Alabama
Genome Announcements
2018
Complete mitochondrial genomes for Cottus asper, Cottus perifretum, and Cottus rhenanus (Perciformes, Cottidae)
Mitochondrial DNA Part B
2017
Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium Phage CrystalP
Genome Announcements
2017
Migration of mitochondrial DNA in the nuclear genome of colorectal adenocarcinoma.
Genome Medicine
2017
Complete mitochondrial genomes of Baikal oilfishes (Perciformes: Cottoidei), earth’s deepest-swimming freshwater fishes
Mitochondrial DNA Part B
2017
An inclusive Research Education Community (iREC): Impact of the SEA-PHAGES program on research outcomes and student learning
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
2017
Interspecific relationships and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in pygmy sunfishes (Centrarchidae: Elassoma)
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
2014
Aging and energetics' 'Top 40' future research opportunities 2010-2013
F1000Research
2014
A method for assessing mitochondrial bioenergetics in whole white adipose tissues
Redox Biology
2014
Catostomidae (book chapter)
Freshwater Fishes of North America: Volume 1: Petromyzontidae to Catostomidae.
2014
Paleoclimatic modeling and phylogeography of least killifish, Heterandria formosa: Insights into Pleistocene expansion-contraction dynamics and evolutionary history of North American Coastal Plain freshwater biota
BMC Evolutionary Biology
2013
The Utility of Mitochondrial and Y Chromosome Phylogenetic Data to Improve Correction for Population Stratification
Frontiers in Genetics
2012
Nuclear gene-inferred phylogenies resolve the relationships of the enigmatic Pygmy Sunfishes, Elassoma (Teleostei: Percomorpha)
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
2012
Elassoma alabamae - The desperate dozen: southeastern freshwater fishes on the brink
Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings
2009
Threatened fishes of the world: Elassoma okatie (Rohde and Arndt 1987)
Environmental Biology of Fishes
2007
Threatened fishes of the world: Elassoma boehlkei (Rohde and Arndt 1987)
Environmental Biology of Fishes
2007