People
Jessica Bolker
Ph.D. University of California, Berkley, 1986
- Associate Professor of Zoology
- Associate Director of Shoals Marine Laboratory
Research Areas
Fish development, evolutionary developmental biology
Research Emphasis
Research Emphasis Developmental analysis of flounder pigmentation and asymmetry: Pigmentation defects are common in hatchery-reared flatfishes, and represent both a significant economic cost to the aquaculture industry and an obstacle to potential future stock enhancement efforts based on release of hatchery-reared juveniles. Research in my lab seeks to document both normal patterns of pigmentation development and the ways in which development is perturbed in malpigmented fish. We are also investigating the development of left-right asymmetry: some forms of malpigmentation may reflect patterning defects in which skin on one side of the body follows a developmental pathway appropriate for the oppposite side. We apply a range of techniques including light, fluorescence, and electron microscopy; histological and morphological studies; immunohistochemistry; and various biochemical assays of pigment cell differentiation.
Theoretical issues in evolutionary developmental biology: My work focuses on the role of environmental factors in development; the role of "model systems" in developmental biology; and modularity, particularly as it relates to plasticity. A new area is consideration of the inherent, evolved structure or architecture of development, especially the significance of this architecture for computer models and algorithms seeking to represent evolutionary processes and explore their behavior in silico.
Other areas of interest include sturgeon embryology, the interesetion of econology and development, and using writing to teach and learn biology.
Courses Taught
Biomechanics ZOOL 415; Developmental Biology ZOOL 529; Evolution- ZOOL 690; Independent Study and Special Topic Courses