Loyola University Chicago

Department of Biology

Yoel E.Stuart

Assistant Professor
Ph.D. 2013, Harvard University
Evolutionary Ecology, Adaptation
Phone: 773-508-2377
Fax: 773.508.3646

RESEARCH INTERESTS

I am an evolutionary ecologist interested in the speed and repeatability of evolutionary change. How do populations respond to selection? How long does it take them? And do different populations respond in shared or unique ways? To answer these questions, I combine morphometrics, sequencing, and field-based comparative and experimental approaches. For example, my doctoral research showed that novel interactions between native and invasive Anolis lizard species on small islands in Florida generated rapid adaptation over a handful of generations—an adaptation that likely allows coexistence. My post-doctoral research showed that adaptation to Vancouver Island lakes and streams by threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is not as repeatable as we might think, but that knowing something about environmental and genetic variation in different populations does explain some of the (non)parallel evolution we observed. 

At Loyola, the Stuart lab has started some new systems; namely, (i) a collaboration with Drs. Mike Bell and Kjetil Voje studying evolution in a fossilized lineage of threespine stickleback fish, Gasterosteus doryssus, and (ii) a collaboration with Drs. Matt Walsh and Cole Thompson used resurrection ecology with Daphnia to study the evolutionary consequences of radioactive fallout. We are also collaborating with Drs. Diana Rennison and Thor Veen to study replicate divergence between marine and stream populations of extant threespine stickleback.  

You can find out more about my work here: https://stuartlabloyola.org. If joining the Stuart Lab sounds interesting to you, email me to set up a time to meet or Zoom. 

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Voje, K.L., M.A. Bell, and Y.E. Stuart. 2022. Evolution of static allometry and constraint on evolutionary allometry in a fossil stickleback. J. Evolutionary Biology. 10.1111/jeb.13984 

Stuart, Y.E., M.P. Travis, and M.A. Bell. 2020. Inferred genetic architecture underlying evolution in a fossil stickleback lineage. Nature Ecology and Evolution 4: 1549-1557. 10.1038/s41559-020-01287-xBolnick, D.I., R.D.H. Barrett, K.B. Oke, D.J. Rennison, and Y.E.  

  1. Stuart. 2018. (Non)Parallel Evolution. Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 49: 303-330. 1146/annurev-ecolsys-110617-062240.

Stuart, Y.E., T. Veen, J.N. Weber, D. Hanson, M. Ravinet, B.K. Lohman, *C.J. Thompson, T. Tasneem, A. Doggett, *R. Izen, *N. Ahmed, R.D.H. Barrett, A.P. Hendry, C.L. Peichel, and D.I. Bolnick. 2017. Contrasting effects of environment and genetics generate a continuum of parallel evolution. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 1: 0158. 10.1038/s41559-017-0158. 

Stuart, Y.E., S.A. Inkpen, R. Hopkins, and D.I. Bolnick. 2017. Character displacement is an evolutionary pattern. So, what causes it? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 121: 711-715. 10.1093/biolinnean/blx013. 

Stuart, Y.E., T.S. Campbell, P.A. Hohenlohe, R.G. Reynolds, L.J. Revell, and J.B. Losos. 2014. Rapid evolution of a native species following invasion by a congener. Science, 346: 463-466. 10.1126/science.1257008. 

Stuart, Y.E. and J.B. Losos. 2013. Ecological character displacement: glass half full or half empty? Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 28: 402-408. 10.1016/j.tree.2013.02.014