Copyright © 2011 Donald Price. All Rights Reserved.

 

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What do we do?

The research projects that my students and I have been engaged in over the years covers many areas of biological research and at any given time, several different projects may be running simultaneously. The primary focus of the lab is on the study of evolutionary genetics related to local adaptation of populations and speciation and population genetics of native Hawaiian species. These projects make use the latest in molecular and statistical genetic analysis techniques.

Why do we do it?

We are interested in how species adapt to local environments and the role of behavior in those processes. We are also interested in the evolution of sexually selected behaviors and traits. Mating behaviors can be very important to the survival of a population or species and also drive the evolution of highly divergence courtship and other behaviors among populations and species.  We use genetic techniques (e.g. DNA sequencing,  genotyping and gene expression) to study the structure of populations and the differences among species.  From these studies we can learn how populations and species evolve and adapt over short and long periods of time. environmental and genetic hypotheses and then apply that information to evolutionary and ecological questions.

Drosophila heteroneura

Where do we do it?

The Hawaiian Islands provide a unique natural laboratory for studying evolution. Hawaiian Drosophila species are primarily collected in the wildon Hawai`i Island though some studies require collection on the other Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiian Drosophila caught in the field are then reared in controlled environmental facilities to study their reproduction and behavioir. The core genetics facility on the UH Hilo campus is where most genetic analysis is done.

 

  

We have also investigated the inbreeding genetics of Nene (Hawaiian goose) and the behavior, speciation and populations genetics of Hawaiian Drosopihla. We design experiments that test both environmental and genetic hypotheses and then apply that information to evolutionary and ecological questions.

 

More information on the core genetics facility can be found here: http://hilo.hawaii.edu/depts/epscor/

 

Tani collecting Drosophila murphyi in South Kona

Drosophila substenoptera