Thanks to my recent NSF CAREER award, we now have the opportunity to study the ecological causes and evolutionary genomic consequences of spatially and temporally fluctuating selection in Lycaeides butterflies (pictured above). We will use computer simulations, experiments, and genome sequencing of butterflies to understand fluctuating selection, with a focus on how variation in precipitation, temperature, and other factors causes selection on caterpillars to change across space and time. By taking advantage of ~8000 butterfly samples we have collected over the past 30 years and older specimens from museums, we will generate an awesome spatial and temporal population genomic data set that will provide unprecedented insights into contemporary evolutionary change in nature. We even have a new “ancient DNA” room for working with the museum specimens. I will be recruiting a post doc and students to work with me on this project starting in fall 2020.

You can read more about this award in this press release.