Ben Fitzpatrick
Major Research Interests
Population Genetics, Conservation Biology, Vertebrate Biology
My major interests are in the genetics and biogeography of speciation, the importance of local adaptation for both evolution and conservation management, and invasion biology. I encourage graduate students to develop their own research questions, which may involve my primary study organisms (salamanders) or not.I am collaborating with Randal Voss (http://salamander.uky.edu) and Brad Shaffer (http://www2.eve.ucdavis.edu/shafferlab/index.htm) to develop a large-scale genomic approach to studying constraints on gene flow and local adaptation in tiger salamanders. Other projects include application of molecular markers to study the roles of geography and natural selection in the diversification of plethodontid salamanders, and metaanalyses of biogeographic and phylogenetic data to test models of speciation in mammals.