I'm interested in the processes that generate and maintain diversity at the species, population, and genome level in birds and their ectoparasites. My research explores questions like: What drives diversification and maintains species across diverse habitats? How is genetic diversity structured within and amongst populations? What genomic mechanisms underlie phenotypic diversity within closely-related taxa? To answer these questions, I use a variety of molecular, morphological, and computational tools to integrate genomic and phenotypic data from contemporary and historical museum specimens and their ectoparasites. I am particularly invested in improving molecular & computational tools for use with degraded DNA from historical museum specimens.
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Host-parasite interactions |
Linking phenotypes and genotypes with selective forces from the environment remains challenging in wild populations. On an organismal scale, host-parasite systems are useful models for understanding these processes because phenotypes in one species can be manipulated to induce changes in traits of the other. On a geographic scale, these same processes produce patterns of broad geographic concordance between phenotypes and environmental variables across diverse taxa. My NSF-funded postdoctoral research uses bobwhite quail and their feather lice as a model to understand how host-parasite interactions across heterogeneous environments shape traits such as plumage color & pattern and louse morphology, and identify the genomic mechanisms underlying these processes.
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Population genomics & demographic history |
At the population-level, I'm interested in how patterns of genetic & phenotypic divergence have changed over recent evolutionary timescales. Using innovative approaches to collect genomic datasets from both modern & historical museum specimens, my research investigates how recent earth history, ecological, and evolutionary processes have shaped population structure and demographic history within species complexes, such the Pine & Black-capped Siskin complex (Alvarez, Salter et al., 2016) and bobwhite quails (Salter et al., 2022) . |
Genomics of plumage color & pattern |
At the genome-level, I'm interested in the origin and evolution of divergent phenotypes, particularly plumage color & pattern. Facilitated by a high-quality reference genome (Salter et al., 2019), my research uses whole-genome sequencing of both modern & historical museum specimens to understand the genomic basis of plumage traits in bobwhite quail and how these phenotypes are inherited. |
Avian phylogenetics & systematics |
Differences in plumage coloration and pattern have often formed the basis of systematics and taxonomy in many groups of birds – hypotheses of relationships among and within species we can now test with genetic data. My research uses genomic datasets and a variety of analytical approaches to improve our understanding of avian systematics at a range of taxonomic scales, such as genus-level relationships among owls (Salter et al., 2020), a cryptic species complex of Andean suboscines (Krabbe...Salter et al., 2020), and subspecies-level sampling of "New World" (odontophorid) quails (Salter et al., 2022). All of these projects rely on historical museum specimens to fill critical sampling gaps. |