Prof. Toby Bradshaw, Investigating the Origin of Species
Biology professor Toby Bradshaw is broadly interested in evolutionary biology. His research focuses on the evolutionary genetics of novel adaptations to environmental challenges. “Much of evolutionary theory was outlined by Charles Darwin 150 years ago,” Toby began. “But the genetic architecture of adaptive evolution was the biggest question that Darwin couldn’t address because he didn’t know about genetics. Now we do.” More...
In the 1980s rampant poaching fueled by a demand for ivory wiped out hundreds of thousands of African elephants. Consequently the population plummeted from over a million animals to 500,000. Such sharp declines lead to what biologists call a population bottleneck, a situation that results in a loss of genetic variation and increased inbreeding due to the reduced population size. At their worst population bottlenecks jeopardize the survival of a species. Biology graduate student Siri Nelson is working to understand how much genetic variation remains among elephant populations and if and how migration keeps remnant populations connected. 
Christopher Himes is in the home stretch of his graduate student career. He studies the history of small mammal populations in relation to their geographic and spatial distribution and how that distribution has changed over time, specifically since the last glacial cycle ended 20,000 years ago. 
On Carolyn Bauer’s first day of college her Freshman Interest Group (FIG) met with Biology professor Carl Bergstrom who expressed to them the importance of getting involved with research as undergraduates. Carolyn took that message to heart and subsequently searched the list of Biology faculty when toward the bottom of the alphabetical list she came to John Wingfield’s name. John works on birds and Carolyn had always loved birds, so she emailed him to inquire whether he needed any help in the lab. 
When Hannah Marx started school at the University of Washington, she thought about going into medicine; but an international health seminar she took shifted her thinking from practicing medicine to research. Interested in many things and not yet ready to narrow her focus, Hannah took a plant identification and classification class and realized how much she enjoyed learning about plants. 
“I always wanted to study biology,” Kelly Kirkland began, “probably because of the many summers I spent at science camp as a kid.” So when she started at the University of Washington, choosing a major was no problem. What wasn’t so apparent at the time was what exactly she wanted to do with a biology degree. 
UW Biology is pleased to offer its alumni and friends many opportunities to visit during 2008, including Washington Weekend and the 3rd annual Mindlin Lecture in April, Evolution in the Evening during spring quarter, and the 2nd annual Alumni Reunion in August. 