Eli M. Swanson, PhD 2015
My research interests are broadly focused in evolutionary ecology. Specifically, I am interested in the maintenance and generation of morphological and life history patterns. I am also interested in studying the evolution of complex traits such as life history strategies in the context of both adaptive and non-adaptive hypotheses. I am currently working with spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) on the evolution, maintenance, proximate control, and ontogeny of the rare pattern of female biased-sexual size dimorphism exhibited by spotted hyenas. I am incorporating statistical and quantitative genetic tools, as well as IGF-1 assays, field work, and long-term study data on spotted hyenas to address a variety of questions concerning different aspects of this pattern. I am also interested in decision-making, multivariate evolution, comparative phylogenetics, evolutionary modeling, paleontology, conservation genetics, and statistical programming. Eli is currently an NSF post-doctoral fellow in biology at the University of Minnesota. His website is here: https://eliswanson.com/ Eli's email is eliswanson@gmail.com |