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My current research focuses on the genetics of ecological speciation. In recent history, much has been discovered about traits under divergent natural selection and those contributing to reproductive isolation in early ecological speciation. However, very little is known about the genetics of these traits and how they remain in favorable associations during the process of speciation when gene flow is occurring. My research aspires to shed light on these topics.

Using QTL mapping my project aims to discover the genetic architecture of traits involved in early divergence between benthic and limnetic threespine sticklebacks. Traits to be genetically mapped include several which are known to be under divergent natural selection and several which are involved in assortative mating between benthic and limnetic stickleback species pairs. We expect to learn about general features of the genetic architectures of mapped traits, and also examine the genetic and genomic relationships between them.