Office: Biology 314
Phone: (970) 491-3289
Website: https://funklab.colostate.edu/
Curriculum Vitae: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UmzGzFbYHfipB-b9jOlB6Z4FJg8DdO_E/view?usp=sharing
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ombV31sAAAAJ&hl=en
Education
- Ph.D., University of Montana
- B.A., Wesleyan University
- Reed College
About
The Funk Lab strives to understand the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that generate and maintain biodiversity, and how rapid global environmental change affects these processes. We address questions by integrating population genomics, quantitative field methods, controlled experiments, and computational analysis in a variety of taxonomic groups (amphibians, fish, stream insects, birds, mammals, reptiles, and terrestrial insects). Much of our research focuses on freshwater habitats, such as streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, and lakes.
In addition to my interest in basic questions in evolution and ecology, an important part of my research program applies population genetic theory and next-generation sequencing data to address conservation questions, especially in amphibians as part of AmphibiaGen. Population genetics and genomics are invaluable in conservation and management for the delineation of conservation units, determining patterns of genetic connectivity across landscapes, and assessing the status and viability of threatened species. A major focus of my research program is the application of population genetics and genomics to address critical questions for biodiversity conservation.
Publications
- Conservation and the Genomics of Populations, 3rd editionOxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2022
- Linking evolutionary potential to extinction risk: applications and future directionsFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment 20, 507-515, 2022
- The crucial role of genome-wide genetic variation in conservationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118, e2104642118, 2021
- Genomic and fitness consequences of genetic rescue in wild populationsCurrent Biology 30, 517-522, 2020
- Improving conservation policy with genomics: A guide to integrating adaptive potential into U.S. Endangered Species Act decisions for conservation practitioners and geneticistsConservation Genetics 20, 115-134, 2019
- Narrow thermal tolerance and low dispersal drive higher speciation in tropical mountainsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 49, 12471-12476, 2018
- Extreme streams: Species persistence mechanisms and evolutionary change in montane stream insect populations across a flood disturbance gradientEcology Letters 21, 425-525, 2018
- Adaptive divergence despite strong genetic drift: genomic analysis of the evolutionary mechanisms causing genetic differentiation in the island fox (Urocyon littoralis)Molecular Ecology 25, 2176-2194, 2016
- Genetic rescue to the rescueTrends in Ecology and Evolution 30, 42-49, 2015
- Harnessing genomics for delineating conservation unitsTrends in Ecology and Evolution 27, 489-496, 2012
