Zachary Wood

Curriculum Vitae (click here)

I joined the Evolutionary Applications Lab (Kinnison Lab) in the fall of 2015 as a PhD student. I received a BA in biology from Dartmouth College, during which I wrote a high honors thesis entitled “Producers and their Environments in Greenlandic Kettle Lakes.” My previous research has focused on ecological modeling, including tree structure, stream temperatures, and algae in Arctic lakes.

My research in the EvoAppsLab focuses on eco-evolutionary dynamics in the form of rapid evolution during trophic cascades. I am specifically focusing on how evolution of antipredator defenses in wild and domesticated (i.e. hatchery) fish can dampen or exacerbate the addition of new predators into aquatic ecosystems. I will be using lab experiments and field manipulations of western mosquitofish to study:

+ The capacity of wild and domesticated mosquitofish to evolve anti-predator defenses

+ The life-history costs of anti-predator defenses, and

+ The contribution of anti-predator defenses to community stability

To examine the long-term effects of rapid evolution during trophic cascades, I also built an individual-based model framework in Matlab, the parameters of which will be informed by my experimental work.

For more info check out my website.