Dr. Irene Keller Fish Ecology and Evolution Eawag Seestrasse 79 6047 Kastanienbaum Switzerland

Phone +41 41 349 2161 Fax +41 41 349 2162 Office SW-C04 irene.keller@eawag.ch

Irene Keller

Function

• Postdoc with Prof. Jukka Jokela and Prof. Ole Seehausen, Eawag

Research interest

I use molecular and statistical tools to study the spatial and temporal structure of natural populations with a view to identifying the factors promoting or preventing population persistence, neutral or adaptive divergence and speciation. I am also interested in the molecular evolution of the genome and the extent and evolutionary significance of interspecific differences.

Projects

See projects on the webpage of the group Global Change Biology - CEES Bio Change

Past Projects

Molecular evolution in the grasshopper Podisma pedestris

In many species, the different members of a multigene family are homogenised horizontally through various molecular processes and evolve in a concerted manner within species. In the grasshopper Podisma pedestris, however, this rate of sequence homogenisation is exceptionally low which might be a consequence of the huge genome size of these animals. The neutral point substitution pattern is also different in Podisma compared to other taxa where this has been investigated (fruit flies and mammals). In particular, after accounting for the effects of DNA methylation, Podisma does not show an elevated transition rate.

Conservation genetics

My PhD research addressed the relationship between migration, population size and genetic population structure in two ground beetle species with a particular focus on the effects of anthropogenic habitat fragmentation. We found that major roads strongly isolate beetles in different forest fragments, leading to an increase of genetic differentiation, a decrease of local effective population sizes and the loss of neutral genetic variation.

Curriculum vitae

2007 - current, Postdoc at Eawag
2006 - 2007, Postdoc at the Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach
2004 - 2006, Postdoctoral research fellow with Prof. Richard Nichols, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
2003 - 2004, Temporary position as a scientific assistant at the Federal Research Station for Animal Production and Dairy Products, Bern
2002 - 2003, Postgraduate course in applied statistics at the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Bern
2000 - 2003, PhD thesis in population genetics with PD Dr. Carlo Largiadèr and Prof. Wolfgang Nentwig, Zoological Institute, University of Bern on “Impact of habitat fragmentation due to major roads on two species of ground beetles”
1998 - 1999, Master thesis with Prof. Jürg Zettel, Zoological Institute, University of Bern on “Autecology of Formica selysi (Hyme-noptera, Formicidae) at different zonation types at Pfynwald”
1994 - 1998, Undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Bern

Publications

• Eawag Publications
• other Publications