Research Interests:
I’m a PhD student at the MECU lab interested in using genomic and genetic tools to study how species populations are influenced by past and present environmental changes. Originally from Illinois, I received my B.S. at University of Wisconsin-Madison in Evolutionary Biology. On campus, my thesis work focused on understanding the ecological and phylogenetic influences on vertebrate eye morphology. After graduating I worked various field positions in the Indian Himalaya, Australia, and New Zealand. In 2014, I became a Fulbright scholar affiliated with the Wildlife Institute of India to studying Himalayan and Indian wolf behavior. Before starting my PhD at University of California, Davis, I was a research technician with the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and a Project Biologist for the Wood River Wolf Project based in Idaho.
PhD Research on Himalayan and Indian Wolves:
For my PhD, I studied phylogenomics and landscape genomics of wide ranging species in Asia and North America. I worked with DNA from wolves in Asia and red foxes in Asia and North America to study their evolutionary history and provide important information to inform conservation management.
Lauren is an Assistant Professor of BioSciences at Rice University.