AQUATIC ECOLOGY

Walsh Lab News

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Matt Walsh wins NSF Career Grant to study effects of predators on the evoluton of Daphnia.
July, 2017

Congratulations to our awesome PI and advisor for being awarded a five-year, $600,000 grant from the NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development Program.  The project is titled “CAREER: Does behavioral plasticity promote or constrain adaptation? A test using resurrection.”  
Members of the Walsh Lab gave presentations at Evoution 2017 Confernce in Portland, Or.
June-July 2017
Congratulations to Michelle Packer!  She is the Walsh Lab's newest official PhD candidate!  
May 3, 2017

Michelle is currently working on  The influence of lake productivity on life history evolution in Daphnia across natural and experimental gradients.  This work compares trends between a temperate, natural lake system at the NTL LTER in Wisconsin with an experimentally manipulated lake system in the ARC LTER in Alaska.     
We were proud to host Derek Roff as part of our UTA Department of Biology Spring 2017 Colloquium Series
March 2017

Derek Roff
Professor of Biology 
University of California, Riverside

Migration and Sexual Selection Tradeoffs in an Uncertain World
The Walsh lab was happy to host Mart Turcotte as part of our UTA Department of Biology Spring 2017 Colloquium Series
February 2017

Martin (aka Mart) Turcotte 
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Pittsburgh​ 

Mart lectured on "Evolution as a driver of ecological dynamics at multiple timescales".  His previous research which manipulated rapid evolution by altering the genetic composition of aphid populations in the field.
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Investigations into Eye-Brain size in Killifish - Winter Field Season 2016
 December, 2016

​Over winter break PhD candidate Shannon Beston, undergrad lab alum Kaitlyn Howell, and Dr. Walsh returned to Trinidad to determine how selection on eye size and brain size is operating in natural populations of Trinidadian killifish Rivulus hartii. Recent work by Beston and Walsh has shown that both brain size and eye size decrease significantly in sites with high rates of predator induced mortality. To begin to address why predators are associated with smaller brains and eyes, the three executed a short term mark-recapture experiment to evaluate survival and growth rate as a function of eye size and brain size. As an added bonus, the Walsh Lab now has 130+ live Rivulus that will be used for a variety of laboratory experiments. Stay tuned for some exciting results! 
Daphnia from above the Arctic Circle... 
July, 2016

How are Daphnia living and evolving in the arctic?  To answer such questions, researchers Michelle Packer and Kaitlyn Howell trekked to Toolik Field Station in the far reaches of Alaska to collect live samples for use in lab experiments.  Further research will be done in the lab on the effects of runoff (nutrient additions) on the evolution of Daphnia and the impacts this could have on zooplankton communities and their
habitat.  
Parasite co-evolution in Killifish - Trinidad Field Season 2016
 ​June, 2016
The Walsh Lab was happy to host Dr. Elizabeth King for the UTA Department of Biology Spring 2016 Colloquium Series
​February 25, 2016
Elizabeth King
Assistant Professor​
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Missouri
Why do some organisms live for many years while others only live for weeks or months? Why do some organisms produce very large offspring while others produce tiny young? We use genomic and quantitative techniques to understand the genetic basis of these life history strategies and how different strategies evolve. We primarily, though not exclusively, use insect model systems for our research.
Congratulations to Julian Holmes!  He's our newest graduate student!
​December 18, 2015

We are so proud of you Julian!  
Congratulations to Collin Funkhouser!  He is the Walsh Lab's newest official PhD candidate!  
November 20, 2015

Collin is studying Gulf Killifish (Fundulus grandis) and researching the evolutionary consequences of environmental variance.  He has also recently become a new father. We are so proud of you!!
We're proud to host Dr. Britt Koskella for the UTA Department of Biology Fall 2015 Colloquium Series
November 19, 2015
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“Bacteria-phage interactions within a long lived host”
Dr. Britt Koskella 
Assistant Professor
Department of Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Koskella is an evolutionary biologist examining the role of host-parasite interactions in shaping diversity.  We had a great time getting to know Britt and listening to her wonderful talk!
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Photo: RobBarros (CC-BY-SA)
Biologist Gets National Science Grant To Study Environmental Change In Wisconsin Lakes
September 7, 2015

Dr. Walsh makes the news again!!  NPR (National Public Radio) interviewed Associate Professor Matthew Walsh about his new NSF grant and the work he will be doing to investigate anthropogenic-influenced changes in Wisconsin lakes.

To listen to the interview, click here.
Study of zooplankton in Alaska and Wisconsin’s lakes could help bridge gap between ecology and evolution
September 2, 2015

Dr. Walsh has received a $220,000 National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research grant to examine zooplankton in more than 20 lakes in Alaska and Wisconsin.  This NSF grant will help fund graduate/undergraduate research and will help recruit high school students from under-represented groups for summer outreach programs, exposing them to research methods and helping them learn about the vulnerabilities of ecosystems and the importance of long term research.
Jorge Garcia received the William L. & Martha Hughes Award for the Study of Biology.  
May 7, 2015 


Jorge is an undergraduate in the Walsh Lab.  We are very proud of you!  Congratulations on your scholarship. 
Walsh receives $100K grant to fund student's fish research
April 14, 2014

Matt Walsh, an assistant professor of biology, has received a $100,000, two-year grant from Luminant Energy which will fund a study of how heated thermal effluent from power plants influences the evolution of a common species of fish...
UT Arlington team says non-genetic changes can help parents or offspring, not both 
November 13, 2014

A new study from The University of Texas at Arlington biologists examining non-genetic changes in water flea development suggests something human parents have known for years – ensuring a future generations’ success often means sacrifice...
Contact Information
Lab: Life Sciences B02
Lab Phone: 817-272-9079

Street Address:
University of Texas Arlington
501 S Nedderman Dr
Arlington, Tx 
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