Current Research

My current research focuses on the evolutionary ecology of fishes occurring along abiotic environmental gradients in two independent model systems: (1) Poeciliid fishes in sulfidic and non-sulfidic habitats, and (2) cichlids occurring along longitudinal river gradients. Variation in the abiotic environmental conditions along both gradients is usually correlated by a number of abiotic and biotic environmental factors. My goal is to characterize the complex selective regimes along habitat gradients and to investigate the ecological and evolutionary consequences for fishes occurring along them. I am using a variety of field and laboratory based techniques to look at multiple traits ranging from behavioral and trophic ecology to morphology. Furthermore, I use molecular genetic tools to investigate genetic differentiation of populations along the gradient. With my research, I want to contribute to the understanding of patterns and mechanisms leading to phenotypic and ecological diversity, and ultimately speciation.