People
PI
Gideon Bradburd (he/him)
My research is focused around incorporating geography into statistical methods for studying population structure, admixture, demography, local adaptation, and natural selection in a variety of empirical systems.
More info: [CV], [Google Scholar], [github], [SSE profile of me].
Contact: bradburd (at) umich (dot) edu
twitter: (at) gbradburd
Office: 3042 Biological Sciences Building, University of Michigan
My research is focused around incorporating geography into statistical methods for studying population structure, admixture, demography, local adaptation, and natural selection in a variety of empirical systems.
More info: [CV], [Google Scholar], [github], [SSE profile of me].
Contact: bradburd (at) umich (dot) edu
twitter: (at) gbradburd
Office: 3042 Biological Sciences Building, University of Michigan
Postdocs
Mike Grundler (he/him) I am an evolutionary biologist with a keen interest in vertebrate diversity. In the Bradburd lab, my research focuses on the development of statistical methods for studying comparative patterns of phenotypic variation and population structure.
Zach Hancock (he/him) I am an evolutionary biologist with an interest in molecular evolution, phylogenetics, and spatial population genetics. I completed my PhD in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Texas A&M University in October 2020, where I combined empirical and simulation approaches to address the impacts of spatial structure on phylogenetic inference. In the Bradburd lab, I work to develop and test models for a range of questions in spatial population genetics, including the influence of drift between ancient and modern samples on demographic inference, limited range sampling on estimates of long-term effective sizes, and the impact of continuous structure on species delimitation methods. In my free time I dabble in crustacean systematics, especially the evolution and biogeography of haustoriid amphipods.
Leonard Jones (he/him) I joined the Bradburd lab in Jan 2021 after completing my PhD at the University of Washington Fall 2020. My dissertation work leveraged high-throughput sequence data and coalescent methods to infer population level and deep phylogenetic histories in multiple snake systems. I am currently using simulated and empirical data to characterize the influence of tree-like structure between populations on the inference of population structure and admixture in space.
PhD students
Meaghan Clark (she/her) I am a third year PhD candidate in the Bradburd and Fitzpatrick labs and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior program. My research interests focus on temporal changes in genetic diversity and relatedness, especially associated with population decline. For my dissertation, I’m using genetic samples from long-term monitoring studies to test for inbreeding and inbreeding depression in small, fragmented populations of eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, and using forward-time simulations to investigate the consequences of age structure and overlapping generations on declining populations. I completed my MS studying genetic and phenotypic variation in red-eyed treefrogs with Jeanne Robertson at Cal State Northridge.
Alex Lewanski (he/him) I am a first year PhD student in the Bradburd lab at UMichigan and the Fitzpatrick lab at Michigan State. Although the specifics of my PhD work are still in development, I have diverse interests in evolutionary genomics. I am particularly excited by local adaptation and gene flow, how and why these processes vary across space and time, and how these processes interact to influence population persistence and patterns of genetic variation. Prior to joining the Bradburd lab, I completed an MS degree in Katie Wagner’s lab at the University of Wyoming where I studied speciation and hybridization in Lake Tanganyikan cichlid fishes.
Visiting scholars
Kirsty MacLeod (she/her) I am a behavioural and evolutionary ecologist with broad interests in maternal investment, reproductive systems, stress physiology, and sociality. I'm fascinated by how individuals interact with one another and their environment, how those interactions affect physiology and behaviour, and how this contributes to evolution and shapes vertebrate communities. My current and recent work investigates how physiological stress during gestation influences offspring morphology, behaviour, and survival. I am based at Lund University in Sweden, but when I'm passing through MSU, the Bradburd lab is my home away from home.
Other lab personnel
Abraham Oak Weber-Bradburd I am co-advised by Gideon Bradburd and Marjorie Weber. My research is focused on developing rudimentary motor control and (parental fingers desperately crossed) circadian sleep rhythms.
Eloise Wolf Weber-Bradburd I am co-advised by Gideon Bradburd and Marjorie Weber. My research is focused on developing new forms of dance, notions of personal property and, concurrently, the ability to share that property (work ongoing). Future research plans include sleeping in a little bit later on weekends.
Banjo woof!
GradBurds (Lab alumni)
Rachel Toczydlowski - now Research Scientist at the US Forest Service
Bob Week - now postdoc at the University of Oregon
Kelsey Yule - now Collections Manager at the NEON Biorepository collections at Arizona State
Matteo Tomasini - now postdoc at University of Gothenburg
Emily Puckett - now Assistant Professor at University of Tennessee, Memphis
Bob Week - now postdoc at the University of Oregon
Kelsey Yule - now Collections Manager at the NEON Biorepository collections at Arizona State
Matteo Tomasini - now postdoc at University of Gothenburg
Emily Puckett - now Assistant Professor at University of Tennessee, Memphis