Michael Whitlock
whitlock@zoology.ubc.ca
Professor
Department
of Zoology
University
of British Columbia
B.S., Baylor; Ph.D., Vanderbilt
Luce Scholar, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Indonesia (1990-91)
NIH Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Chicago (1991-92)
Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Edinburgh (1992-1995)
Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies
(2004)
Killam Research Fellow (2006-7)
NESCent Sabbatical Scholar (2006-2007
Editor-in-Chief, The American Naturalist (2006-2008)
Research Interests
My research focuses on evolution in structured populations: What are the forces which control the nature and distribution of genotypes in subdivided populations and how does this affect the outcome of other evolutionary processes? These questions and others are addressed in a variety of ways, from theoretical analyses to experimental lab model systems.
Most models of population structure assume uniform populations at equilibrium, which is most unlike most natural populations. My models have included the effects of extinctions, colonizations, population fission events, unequal population sizes, variable migration rates, and other realistic modifications of the theory. We examine the effects of popualtion structure on a wide variety of evolutionary patterns and processes, such as genetic load, inbreeding depression, rates of adaptation, etc.
See a list of recent publications.
Textbook
The Analysis of Biological Data is a textbook aimed at biologists learning about practical statistics. It includes hundreds of real and interesting biological examples to demonstrate the application of important statistical techniques. See the book's web-page, or you can order it below.
ADDRESS:
Department of Zoology University of British Columbia 6270 University Blvd. Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. Phone: (604) 822-2069FAX: (604) 822-2416
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