The Larson Lab is starting a new collaboration with Drs. Martin Garlovsky and Tim Karr to map protein abundance in hybridizing crickets. We were lucky to host Martin this September. During his visit we all attended the Guild of the Rocky Mountain Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists meeting (GREEBs) at the University of Colorado Mountain Research Station, Martin presented at our department seminar, and we collected tons of cricket spermatophores for protein analysis.
The Larson Lab team is honored to be awarded an NSF CAREER to study gene regulatory evolution of post-mating prezygotic barriers. We are excited for the next chapter in cricket hybrid zone research!
Emily and Erica collaborated with Anna Runemark at Lund University on this survey of gene expression in hybrids. This paper was made possible by support from the University of Denver Internationalization International Partnership & Development Grant and the Swedish Foundation for International Research and Higher Education (STINT).
Runemark A, Moore EM, and EL Larson. 2024. Hybridization and gene expression: beyond differentially expressed genes. Molecular Ecology. 00:e17303. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17303
Emily won the Lorraine Flaherty award at the TAGC24 conference for her presentation on parent-of-origin disruption of growth and metabolism. Congratulations Emily!
Alyson Emery received and NSF INTERN award to participate in research through the Denver Botanic Gardens with Dr. April Goebl.
Elise Gellman will be staying with the Larson Lab as a research technician over the next year through support from the NSF Research Experience for Post-Baccalaureate Students (REPs) program. Welcome back Elise!
Congratulations to NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology - TJ Firneno!
Elise Gellman and Christina Maguire were each awarded Undergraduate Summer Research Grants from the Undergraduate Research Center to pursue their independent research projects on field crickets. Elise and Christina have been busy rearing crickets and learning new techniques in the lab.
Congratulations to Kelsie Hunnicutt, who was awarded the R.C. Lewontin Early Award from the Society for the Study of Evolution!
Uma Knaven was awarded a Grant in Aid of Research from Sigma Xi to support her undergraduate Honor’s thesis on cottontail mitochondrial DNA. This project is a collaboration with Kelsie Hunnicutt, who is leading the lab efforts to quantify population structure and hybridization among local cottontails. Congratulations Uma!
Erica, Robin Tinghitella and Luana Maroja were awarded an NSF Rules of Life grant to study the evolution of variable species boundaries in field crickets. As part of our public education efforts, Julie Morris will be helping us organize Nature Challenges on singing insects. The team is excited to get started!
Congratulations to Brooke, who was awarded a Northwest Scientific Association Student Research Grant!. Brooke will use this grant to travel to the Washington (whenever travel restrictions are lifted) to collected red and black sticklebacks.
Congratulations to Amy who was awarded The Explorers Club Mamont Scholar Grant and an Orthopterists Society Theodore J. Cohn Research Award. Amy will use these grants to travel to Pennsylvania to collect crickets.
Congratulations to Kelsie, who was awarded a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
Erica and Kelsie were awarded a grant from Jefferson County to study three species of cottontail rabbit in the Denver area. This grant is a collaboration with Dr. John Demboski at the Denver Muesum of Nature and Science. Kelsie is ready to get to the DMNS and get started!
Congratulations to Brooke and Kelsie, who were both awarded the 2019 Society of Systematic Biologists Graduate Student Research Award.
Congratulations to Kelsie who was just awarded a grant from SICB.
Uma Knaven was just awarded a Partners in Scholarship (PinS) Award to support her research project with Kelsie Hunnicutt to sequence mitochondrial DNA in Denver rabbits.
Congratulations to Brooke Washburn, who was awarded the R.C. Lewontin Early Award from the Society for the Study of Evolution! Read more here.
Congratulations to Kelsie who was just awarded a grant from Sigma Xi. Kelsie is using her grant to travel to Montana this summer to learn to sort testes cells for gene expression assays with Jeff Good’s lab.