Laurie Stevison

My research centers on understanding the process by which new species are formed and maintained. I have used various tests of gene flow between species to understand how species are maintained despite gene flow, which otherwise should homogenize populations and reduce the number of existing species. One possible reason that species persist despite gene flow is local barriers to gene flow within the genome. I have been examining how reduced recombination in hybrids, specifically within chromosomal inversions, limits gene flow between species, allowing species to be maintained despite ongoing gene flow. Other processes of interest are selective forces that drive species apart, such as local adaptation and sexual selection.

My previous work has been in primates and fruit flies, both model systems for understanding evolutionary genetics. In my research, I take a population genetics approach to understanding speciation by looking at both within and between species variation and how that contributes to speciation, facilitates selection, and contributes to recombination rate variation. The data that are generated from these types of questions can also be useful in examining patterns of diversity and selection within species.