Michael Dawson

Millions of species demonstrate that evolution happens, but few illuminate the process. Professor Dawson's lab focuses on elucidating the origins, maintenance, and loss of marine biodiversity, from molecular to ecosystem levels. His specific interests are:

• How molecular variation explains and causes differences between individuals, populations, species, and higher taxa
• How the environment shapes and is shaped by genetic, organismal, population, and community variation

His lab's work scales from micro- to macro-evolution and integrates biological and physical sciences. Topic areas include:

• Adaptation, ecological genetics, and evolutionary ecology
• Population genetics, phylogeography, biogeography, and phylogenetics
• Speciation, systematics, and taxonomy
• Behavior and morphology
• Climate change, invasive species, and marine protected areas