Brook Milligan

Biography

Research in my laboratory focuses on the interface between population genetics, ecology, and evolutionary biology. Specifically, we are interested in quantifying the rates at which evolution proceeds and in elucidating the rules governing evolutionary change of ecological and molecular traits. Ongoing population studies address such questions as 1) at what rate does neutral evolutionary change proceed and how does that determine the balances between genetic drift, migration, and natural selection, and 2) how do population size, mating system, and the demographic characteristics of populations interact to determine the rate of evolution? At a larger evolutionary scale we are concerned with such questions as 1) at what rate do large-scale evolutionary changes occur, and 2) are changes in one trait influenced by changes in others?