Implications of gene-environment interplay for the evolution of behavior: insights from Drosophila melanogaster

EEB Seminar

Presented by Dr. Julia Saltz, Assistant Professor of BioSciences, Rice University

Dr. Saltz’s work aims to understand the development and evolution of intra-population individual differences in behavior, with a particular focus on social behaviors. Why do individuals of the same species develop dramatic differences in behavior? How is this diversity maintained in the face of selection and drift? To address these questions, Dr. Saltz works to integrate evolutionary ecology and psychology with quantitative, population and functional genetics, using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.