Congratulations to former lab members Dr. Dave Ernst, Gabby Agcaoili, and Abby Merril on their paper, “A learning experience elicits sex-dependent neurogenomic responses in Bicyclus anynana butterflies” published in Molecular Ecology! Both female and male B. anynana butterflies learn mate preferences, however they learn preferences for different wing pattern elements and exhibit different learning biases. Read More …
PI Erica Westerman was recently awarded an NSF CAREER Award to study the interplay of genetics and environment on sensory system development in butterflies. Check out the UARK Newswire article here: https://news.uark.edu/articles/63162/nsf-career-award-to-study-visual-systems-of-northwest-arkansas-butterflies
Congratulations to Westerman Lab graduates Jacob Siebenmorgen, Taryn Tibbs, and Nikki Robertson on their manuscript: “Cryptic mate preference in male Bicyclus anynana butterflies” which was just published in the Journal of Insect Behavior! Check out the paper here: link
It was wonderful to be back to in person conferences this summer! Graduate students Sushant Potdar and Kiana Kasmaii, and former undergraduate student Jarrod Varnell, all did an excellent job presenting their research at ABS.
The Westerman lab welcomes new postdoc Dr. Keity Farfan Pira, who comes to us from the Cinvestav-IPN in Mexico. We are very excited to have Dr. Farfan Pira join our team, to pursue the genetics of imprinting like learning!
Check out “The evolution and diversification of oakleaf butterflies” by Wang et al. to learn about the genes involved in the spectacular wing pattern diversification of oakleaf butterflies. A link to the paper can be found here.
Recent lab alumni Dr. Dave Ernst (former postdoc), Gabby Agcaoili (former undergraduate), and Abby Merrill (former undergraduate)’s paper on the neurogenomics underlying sexual dimorphic learning in butterflies, “A learning experience elicits sex-dependent neurogenomic responses in Bicyclus anynana butterflies” is now available on BioRxiv. Congratulations Dave, Gabby, and Abby! Check out the pre-print here!
Congratulations to graduate student Matt Murphy on publication of “Evolutionary history limits species’ ability to match colour sensitivity to available habitat light” in Proceedings of the Royal Academy B! In this study Matt compiled visual sensitivity data for over 440 species of terrestrial and aquatic animals to assess whether animals across taxa evolve visual systems Read More …
Congratulations to our 6 graduating seniors, Abby Merrill, Adriana Beruvides, Conor Moriarty, Jarrod Varnell, Madison Jennings, and Taryn Tibbs, on successfully defending their Honors Theses! All did an excellent job flexibly working throughout the pandemic and conducting a range of thought provoking and exciting research in Lepidoptera integrative behavior. It has been a pleasure working Read More …
Due to the winter weather blowing through the south and east of the US, I have extended the deadline for my postdoctoral fellow position until midnight February 9th. Stay warm and safe! Please contact me (ewesterm@uark.edu) for more details if interested in a postdoctoral position. Summary of Postdoctoral Job Duties: The Westerman Lab in the Read More …
