Dr. Tim Higham from the University of California Riverside was at BMSC last week to study the link between genetics and movement in stickleback, a small fish that lives in marine and freshwater ecosystems surrounding Bamfield.
In this first study of its kind, Dr. Higham and his lab are investigating how genes from different populations of stickleback affect movement while feeding, and how often individuals use suction versus biting to capture their prey. Their research will shed light on how movement drives the evolution of new species, and may help us understand the roles that movement-linked and behavior-linked genes play in humans.
Dr. Higham first came to Bamfield in 1999, as a student in BMSC’s Biology of Marine Fishes course. Since then Tim has taught the Fishes course, and continues to conduct research here with his lab and collaborators, including BMSC Director Dr. Sean Rogers.