Dr. Daven Presgraves is host to Dr. Howard Rundle, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa. He is presenting a talk titled, “Sexual selection, condition-dependence and adaptation (in Drosophila).” Please see below for information on his research:

“While I am interested in diverse topics in evolutionary ecology, the main focus of research in my lab currently addresses how natural and sexual selection interact during adaptation, and how both processes contribute to phenotypic divergence and speciation. Addressing such questions requires a comprehensive understanding of how sexual selection operates within populations and how it varies in different environments (e.g., social, geographical, natural). Our approach is primarily empirical and utilizes experimental evolution and behavioral assays to conduct manipulative, direct tests of various key evolutionary hypotheses. Because the majority of sexual selection theory has quantitative genetic foundations, much of our work is also conducted within a quantitative genetic framework.”