Berger lab: People

David Berger – PI
Assistant Professor

E-mail: david.berger(at)ebc.uu.se
Telephone: +46 18-471 2634
Twitter: @DBergerBiol 

Julian Baur (2017-)

Julian is doing his phd on the evolution of sex-specific mutation rates and their effects in seed beetles. You can reach him here: Julian.baur@ebc.uu.se, and find some of his early work here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/12/14/268011 and here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/01/09/514711

Mareike Koppik (2019-)

Mareike is doing a post doc on how post-copulatory sexual selection and conflict is affecting germline maintenance and transgenerational fitness effects in offspring of male and female seed beetles. Get in touch with Mareike here: mareike.koppik@ebc.uu.se and read more about her work here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bi5yHRAAAAAJ&hl=en

Sher Afzal Khan (2020-)

Sher is doing a post doc with Göran Arnqvist (http://arnqvist.org/) in collaboration with our lab. Sher is interested in understanding the molecular basis for adaptation in generalist and specialist species of seed beetle utilizing different host plant ranges. Reach Sher here: sherafzal.khan@ebc.uu.se.

Martyna Zwoinska (2020-)

Martyna is a guest researcher (and post doc with Rhonda Snook at Stockholm University) who is doing a project on how sexual selection is affecting sex-specific fertility under thermal stress. Reach Martyna here: https://www.su.se/profiles/zwma0845-1.378503

Milena Traubert (2021-)

Milena will do a research project with our group to curate and analyze gene expression data on sex-bias in experimental evolution lines of seed beetle.

Ivain Martinossi-Allibert (2013-17)

Ivain was applying quantitative genetic breeding designs and fitness landscape theory to understand how sexual selection on males contributes to adaptation across different types of environments and genetic backgrounds.

Ivain is now a post doc in the lab of  Hanna Johannesson at Uppsala University (https://www.iob.uu.se/research/systematic-biology/johannesson/)

Karl Grieshop (2013-17)

My research was focused around intralocus sexual conflict, the genetic conflict between the sexes, as well as its various evolutionary consequences. I used laboratory quantitative genetic techniques to partition variance for sex-specific reproductive fitness into its underlying bases (i.e. additive genetic effects, epistasis, dominance, maternal non-genetic effects, etc.). This research posed insights to the constraints populations face during adaptive change, and therefore had important implications for medicine and conservation biology, as well as for our general understanding of evolutionary processes in sexually reproducing organisms.

Karl is now a post doc in the lab of Aneil Agrawal at the University of Toronto: (http://agrawal.eeb.utoronto.ca)

Lynne Caddy (2019-2020)

Lynne did a Masters project on how behavioral plasticity affects selection on genome-wide deleterious alleles (genetic load) in seed beetles. This work is promising but unfinished and will be complimented.

Piotr Michalak (2019)

Piotr did project-work on how natural and sexual selection on de novo mutations affect cognitive behaviors in male and female seed beetles.

Dorian Jagusch (2019)

Dorian did project-work on how natural and sexual selection on de novo mutations affect sex-specific thermal fertility limits. This work is about to be submitted.

Camille Girard-Tercioux (2018)

Camille did a project on parallel (phenotypic) adaptation to temperature in different geographic populations of seed beetle as part of her education in France. This work is ongoing and is being complemented with whole-genome sequencing data.

Jean d'Amor (2018)

Jean did a project on the role of sexual selection in cognitive evolution in males and females. You can find his work here:(https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/01/09/514711).

Ellen Payne (2018)

Ellen did her bachelor project on the role of sexual conflict in the evolution of sexual dimorphism in immunity in seed beetles. Ellen is continuing her education at Uppsala university and we are still working on her project which is about to be submitted

Quentin Corbel (2017)

Quentin did a project on the role of sexual conflict in the evolution of sexual dimorphism in immunity in seed beetles. Quentin will start a Phd in Spain in the lab of Pau Carazo.

Emma Thilliez (2017)

Emma did a seed beetle project this spring to understand how thermal adaptation and the evolution of metabolism affected reproductive output under simulated climate warming.

Emmas work is published here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/eva.12758

Rafael Augusto (2016-17)

Rafa completed his master’s degree in our lab studying assortative mating and reproduction by fitness in a population of seed beetles where most of the genetic variance for fitness is sexually antagonistic. Interesting but complicated. Rafa afterwards worked in our lab helping out with various experiments.

Josefine Stångberg (2015)

Josefine did her project and master work in our lab on sexual selection and the strength of selection on de novo mutations (find her work here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jeb.12862 ), and how environmental stress and compensatory adaptation can affect germline mutation rate (https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2017.1721). Josefine is now a Phd Student in the lab of Elisabeth Bolund at IEG (http://bolund.wixsite.com/homepage).

Tao You (2014)

Tao did his project and master work in our lab on sexual selection and the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior. Find his work here: https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-016-0658-4

Arash Askari (2013)

Arash did a project on the role of mitochondria in sex-specific adaptation and sexual conflict in seed beetles as part of his master’s education in the MEME program.