Research Summary

Understanding the proximate (physiological/developmental) and ultimate (evolutionary) mechanisms that drive adaptive responses to human-altered environments is among the most pressing concerns of contemporary organismal biology and conservation. Human modifications to the natural world present extreme and novel environments for many species around the globe and offer unique opportunities to study the process of evolution in real-time.  Instances of anthropogenic evolution provide means of addressing fundamental questions that have proven difficult to address in many traditional systems. A major goal of my research is to understand adaptive modification of complex phenotypes in response to anthropogenic change. The Campbell-Staton Group integrates diverse experimental and methodological techniques to gain a deeper understanding of how human activity shapes biological stress and evolution in the modern world. In the process, we are asking fundamental questions about the mechanisms that generate adaptive diversity using a wide breadth of species and anthropogenic settings.