Students (graduate and undergraduate) interested in conducting theoretical research in any aspect of evolutionary biology are strongly encouraged to contact me. Although my research is theoretical, it is not exclusively mathematical. In fact, much of it is completely non-mathematical. Students interested in combining theoretical and empirical work are also encouraged to contact me. Our lab focuses on evolution of sex, evolutionary epigenetics, and the evolutionary implications of gene duplication.
I encourage any student contemplating conducting research with me to first do your homework. Read my website and, in particular, read some of my publications. I encourage students to choose their own research projects, even if your underlying causal questions are radically different from mine. But, you should first be cognizant of my research program, if for no other reason to understand my perspectives and interests.
I am currently looking for new graduate students to study Indigenous/Aboriginal persepctives in ecology and evolution. See the ad on EvolDir (evolution directory) or ask me for a copy of the ad.
I am also interested in students that want to combine biology with either mathematics or sexuality studies. If you are interested in one of these cross-disciplinary niches — or evolutionary theory — please contact me.
Students in my lab have worked on the following projects:
- What is sex? What is the function of sex?
- Are there any universal differences between females and males?
- Evolution of shorter W chromosomes (equivalent to Y) in birds
- Quantifying biodiversity and spatial patterns, sometimes using mutual entropy
- Polyploidy and chromosomal fission in plants and animals
- How did gynogenesis and parthenogenesis evolve and why do they persist?
- Early environmental effects, epigenetic inheritance, and evolution of parental care
- Is fertilisation a modified form of meiosis?
- Sexual selection in a fertilised egg cell, including with gynogenesis or polyspermy
- What are the ancestral functions of cytosine methylation?
- Paleoecology and biogeography of Cenozoic hoofed mammals
- How do sugar maples produce maple syrup?
- Changes in plant leafing out, flowering, and fruiting with climate change
- Multi-locus functional epistasis
Root Gorelick 