The award “recognizes the student whose record, in the opinion of the Faculty, is the best in the graduating class in the Doctoral Degree.”
Kira also won the Bill Milsom Prize, for the best Ph.D. dissertation in Zoology.
Congrats to Kira for earning these honours!
Congrats to Kira, Haley, and Ryan on a nice paper!
Delmore, K.E., L. Kenyon, R.R. Germain, and D.E. Irwin. 2015. Phenotypic divergence during speciation is inversely associated with differences in seasonal migration. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 282: 20151921. Link
Abstract:  Differences in seasonal migration might promote reproductive isolation and differentiation by causing populations in migratory divides to arrive on the breeding grounds at different times and/or produce hybrids that take inferior migratory routes. We examined this question by quantifying divergence in song, colour, and morphology between sister pairs of North American migratory birds. We predicted that apparent rates of phenotypic differentiation would differ between pairs that do and do not form migratory divides. Consistent with this prediction, results from mixed effects models and Ornstein–Uhlenbeck models of evolution showed different rates of divergence between these groups; surprisingly, differentiation was greater among non-divide pairs. We interpret this finding as a result of variable rates of population blending and fusion between partially diverged forms. Ancient pairs of populations that subsequently fused are now observed as a single form, whereas those that did not fuse are observable as pairs and included in our study. We propose that fusion of two populations is more likely to occur when they have similar migratory routes and little other phenotypic differentiation that would cause reproductive isolation. By contrast, pairs with migratory divides are more likely to remain reproductively isolated, even when differing little in other phenotypic traits. These findings suggest that migratory differences may be one among several isolating barriers that prevent divergent populations from fusing and thereby increase the likelihood that they will continue differentiating as distinct species.
On July 21st, Kira Delmore expertly defended her Ph.D. dissertation, titled “Migratory Divides and the Genetic Basis of Reproductive Isolation.”
Dr. Delmore’s published dissertation chapters include the following:
Delmore, K.E., J.W. Fox, and D.E. Irwin. 2012. Dramatic intraspecific differences in migratory routes, stopover sites and wintering areas revealed using light-level geolocators. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 279: 4582-4589. Link;  PDF
Delmore, K.E., and D.E. Irwin. 2014. Hybrid songbirds employ intermediate routes in a migratory divide. Ecology Letters 17: 1211-1218. Link
Delmore, K.E., S. Hübner, N.C. Kane, R. Schuster, R.L. Andrew, F. Câmara, R. Guigo, and D.E. Irwin. 2015. Genomic analysis of a migratory divide reveals candidate genes for migration and implicates selective sweeps in generating islands of differentiation. Molecular Ecology 24: 1873-1888. Link
With more on the way!
Some coverage in the media:
Scientific American
Maclean’s
Discover Magazine blog
Tech Times
UBC press release
Read more about Kira’s work (including lots of links to media coverage) here.
Congrats Dr. Delmore!!
Alison did an excellent job presenting and defending her MSc thesis, titled “An analysis of ecological traits as reproductive barriers between the MacGillivray’s (Geothlypis tolmiei) and Mourning (G. philadelphia) warblers.”
Congrats Alison!
Congrats to Julie!
Lee-Yaw, J.A., and D.E. Irwin. 2015. The importance (or lack thereof) of niche divergence to the maintenance of a northern species complex: the case of the long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum Baird). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 28: 917-930. Link
My favourite tweet about this paper:
Rob Bryson† @phylobiogeo:  alternative title… One niche to rule them all: the case of the long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12619/pdf …
Congrats to Kira and co-authors!
Delmore, K.E., S. Hübner, N.C. Kane, R. Schuster, R.L. Andrew, F. Câmara, R. Guigo, and D.E. Irwin. 2015. Genomic analysis of a migratory divide reveals candidate genes for migration and implicates selective sweeps in generating islands of differentiation. Molecular Ecology doi: 10.1111/mec.13150  Link
Congrats to Julie and Talia!
Lee-Yaw, J.A.*, T. Sechley*, and D.E. Irwin. 2015. Conflicting effects of microhabitat on long-toed salamander Ambystoma macrodactylum) movement: implications for landscape connectivity. Canadian Journal of Zoology 93: 1-7. *These authors contributed equally to this work and should both be considered first authors.  Link
Silu recently arrived from Molly Cummings’ lab at UT Austin, where she received an M.A. in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior for her thesis work on “Behavior, morphology and genetic signatures of sexual selection in poeciliid fish.”
Welcome Silu!!
Congrats to Kira!
The citation:
Delmore, K.E., and D.E. Irwin. 2014. Hybrid songbirds employ intermediate routes in a migratory divide. Ecology Letters, Early View DOI: 10.1111/ele.12326 Link
Feel free to email Darren Irwin for a PDF.
Some coverage in the media:
Discover Magazine blog
Tech Times
UBC press release
Read more about Kira’s work here.
Congrats to Miguel! The citation:
Alcaide, M., E.S.C. Scordato, T.D. Price, and D.E. Irwin. 2014. Genomic divergence in a ring species complex. Nature 511: 83-85.  Link
Feel free to email Darren Irwin for a PDF.
The press release:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/uobc-rmt052214.php
To read about our earlier work on the Greenish Warbler ring species, see here.