Welcome

cropped-emmaw_01-1-600x600.jpgWelcome to my research website!!

I am an evolutionary biologist interested in understanding the evolution and function of interactions between the ejaculate and the female after mating.  

I am currently a Leverhulme Society early career research fellow in the Centre for Biological Diversity at the University of St Andrews. My fellowship project leverages population genomics resources in Drosophila melanogaster to ash how the genes encoding reproductive proteins diverge and isolating barriers emerge.  Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher in the Sex and Evolution Research Group at the Oslo Natural History Museum led by Prof. Arild Johnsen. I used comparative approaches to identify the genes, proteins, and genomic architecture underlying sperm and egg membrane evolution in passerine birds.

In my PhD research in the Centre for Reproductive Evolution at Syracuse University, I used mass spectrometry-based proteomics and bioinformatic analyses to address evolutionary questions about reproductive systems. I focussed on two phenomena: 1) the function and evolution of sperm heteromorphism in Lepidoptera, and 2) how the sperm proteome is modified post-mating in the female reproductive tract of Drosophila melanogaster. To find out more click here.

I am always open to questions and collaborations. For more information here is my CV.