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Lisa Marie Meffert
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology
e-mail:[email protected]
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Ph.D. (1988) University of Houston, Houston, TX
B.S. (1982) University of Houston, Houston, TX
Websites
Lisa Meffert
Lisa Meffert
Research Areas
Animal Behavior, Conservation Biology, Sexual Selection, Speciation, Quantitative Genetics.
Research Statement
My research program addresses the fields of quantitative genetics, speciation, sexual
selection, animal behavior, and conservation biology. We use the common housefly for
experimental approaches to investigate how complex traits, like mating behavior and
morphology, respond to selection and inbreeding.
We have conducted selection experiments to simulate speciation through divergent female
mating preferences. In these experiments, dominance and epistasis were found to have
strong influences on the genetic structure of such mating traits. We also discovered that the
male housefly can modulate his behavior to meet different female preferences. These findings
allow us to evaluate principles of speciation, sexual selection, and learning.
Additional experiments have evaluated the effects of inbreeding on complex traits. Genetic
variation for mating behavior or morphology can be maintained or even increased in
populations that recover from severe population crashes. Theoretical work on dominance and
epistasis, as found in our experiments, explains such findings. These results suggest that the
standard assumptions of captive breeding programs for endangered species are overly
simplistic. This program has received NSF support for a project to test the assumptions of
captive breeding programs. This work will thus also examine how native or invading
populations escape near extinctions.
Teaching Areas
Introductory Biology, Evolution, Genetics, Animal Behavior.
Selected Publications
Refereed articles
Meffert , L. M. and J. L. Regan. "Reversed selection responses in small populations of the
housefly (Musca domestica)." Genetica, 127 (2006) : 1-9.
Meffert, L.M., J.L. Regan, R. Mukana, S. K. Hicks, and S. B. Day. "Testing alternative methods
to purge genetic load using the housefly (Musca domestica)." Genetica, 128 (2006) : 419-427.
Shelton, D.S., Meffert, L.M., and Mathews-Borak, C. "The behavioral effects of fasting on
captive Indo-Chinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbett)." (2006) Submitted
Meffert , L. M. and J. L. Regan. "Reversed selection responses in small populations of the
housefly (Musca domestica)." GeneticaIn Press
Meffert, L.M., J.L. Regan, R. Mukana, S. K. Hicks, and S. B. Day. "Testing the effectiveness of
artificial selection to purge genetic load in small populations of the housefly (Musca
domestica)." GeneticaIn Revision
Meffert, L.M., N. Mukana, S.K. Hicks, and S.B. Day "Testing alternative captive breeding
strategies with the subsequent release into the wild." Zoo Biology, 24 (2005) : 375-392.
Day, S. B., E. H. Bryant, and L. M. Meffert "The influence of variable rates of inbreeding on
fitness, environmental responsiveness and evolutionary potential." Evolution, 57 (2003) :
1314-1324.
Hicks, S. K., K. L. Stabler, and L. M. Meffert. "Variable costs of mating, longevity, and
starvation resistance in house flies." Environmental EntomologySubmitted
Meffert, L. M., J. L. Regan, S. K. Hicks, N. Mukana, and S. B. Day. "Fitness meltdown in small
populations." EvolutionSubmitted
Meffert, L. M., J. L. Regan, S. K. Hicks, N. Mukana, and S. B. Day. "Testing natural and
artificial selection pressures for the adaptation to inbreeding." Conservation BiologySubmitted
Meffert, L. M., N. Mukana, S. K. Hicks, and S. B. Day. "Testing captive breeding strategies
under severe population growth restrictions." Conservation GeneticsSubmitted
Regan, J. L., L. M. Meffert, and E. H. Bryant "A direct experimental test of founder-flush
effects on the evolutionary potential for assortative mating." Journal of Evolutionary Biology,
16 (2003) : 302-312.
Articles
Hicks, S. K., K. L. Hagenbuch, and L. M. Meffert. "Variable costs of mating, longevity, and
starvation resistance in the housefly Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)." Environmental
Entomology, 33 (2004) : 779-786.
Meffert , L. M. and J. L. Regan. "Reversed selection responses in small populations of the
housefly." GeneticaSubmitted
Meffert, L. M., J. L. Regan, S. K. Hicks, R. Mukana, and S. B. Day. "Testing natural and
artificial selection pressures for the adaptation to inbreeding." Conservation
GeneticsSubmitted
Meffert, L. M., R. Mukana, S. K. Hicks, and S. B. Day. "Testing captive breeding strategies
under strong population growth restrictions." Zoo BiologySubmitted
Boake, C., Arnold, S., Meffert, L., Ritchie, M., Taylor, B., Wolf, J., Moore, A. "Genetic tools for
studying adaptation and the evolution of behavior." American Naturalist (2002) In Press
Hicks, S., Stabler, K., Meffert, L. "A test of sexual antagonism in houseflies." In Revision
Meffert, L., Hicks, S., Regan, J. "Nonadditive genetic effects in animal behavior." American
Naturalist (2002) In Press
Meffert, L., Regan, J. "A test of speciation via sexual selection on female preferences." Animal
Behaviour (2002) In Press
Book chapters
Meffert, L. M. "Genetics of speciation: Founder effects and population
bottlenecks." Evolutionary Genetics: Concepts and Case Studies: 415-425.
Meffert, L. M. "Founder effects and population bottlenecks." Evolutionary Genetics: Concepts
and Case StudiesIn Press
Meffert, L. M. and K. L. Hagenbuch. "The genetic architecture of housefly mating
behavior." Current Topics in Developmental Biology, 66: 189-213 (2005)
Meffert, L. M. "Genetics of speciation: Bottlenecks and founder effects." Evolutionary Genetics:
Concepts and Case StudiesIn Press
Meffert, L. M. "Genetics of speciation: Founder effects and population
bottlenecks." Evolutionary Genetics: Concepts and Case Studies (C.W. Fox and J.B. Wolf,
eds.)Submitted
Other
Day, S. B., E. H. Bryant, and L. M. Meffert. "The influence of variable rates of inbreeding on
fitness, adaptive potential, and genotype-by-environment interactions." (in preparation)
Hicks, S. K., and L. M. Meffert. "Evidence against sexual antagonism in houseflies." (in
revision)
Meffert, L. M., J. L. Regan, S. K. Hicks, N. Mukana, S. B. Day, J. L Bersola, and S. K. Gupta.
"The meltdown of small populations under selection." Evolution (in review)
Meffert, L. M., N. Mukana, S. K. Hicks, and S. B. Day. "Testing captive breeding schemes
under severe population growth restrictions." (in preparation)
Meffert, L. M., and J. L. Regan. "A test of speciation via sexual selection on female preferences
." Animal Behaviour (in press)
Regan, J. L., L. M. Meffert, and E. H. Bryant. "Influence of population bottlenecks on
premating isolation: selection for assortative mating." (in revision)
Meffert, L. M. "The evolutionary potential of morphology and mating behavior: The role of
epistasis in bottlenecked populations." Epistasis and the Evolutionary Process (2000) : 177193.
Meffert, L. "How speciation experiments relate to conservation biology." BioScience, 49 (1999)
: 701-715.
Meffert, L. M., J. L. Regan, and B. W. Brown. "Convergent evolution of the mating behaviour
of founder-flush populations of the housefly." Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 12 (1999) :
859-868.
Aragaki, D. L. R. and L. M. Meffert. "A test of how well the repeatability of a courtship trait
predicts its heritability." Animal Behaviour, 55 (1998) : 1141-1150.
Bryant, E. H. and L. M. Meffert. "Quantitative genetic estimates of morphometric variation in
wild-caught and laboratory-reared houseflies." Evolution, 52 (1998) : 626-630.
Presentations
Invited Talks
"A workshop on current research in speciation theory and conservation biology." Rice School
of Continuing Studies: Academies for High School Teachers of Advanced Courses, Rice
University. (2006)
"Experimental tests of speciation theory and conservation biology." University of California at
Davis, Davis, CA. (2006)
"Experimental tests of speciation theory: Implications for conservation biology." University of
Houston, Houston, TX. (2006)
"Experimental tests of speciation theory: Lessons from the common housefly." North Carolina
State University, Durham, NC. (2006)
"Experimental tests of speciation theory: Lessons from the common housefly." University of
California at Riverside, Riverside, CA. (2006)
"Experiments in speciation theory: Implications for conservation biology." Southwestern
University, Georgetown, TX. (2006)
"Experiments on the escape from extinction: Implications for conservation biology." Rice
University, Houston, TX. (2006)
"Experiments on the escape from extinction: Implications for conservation biology." University
of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. (2006)
"Experiments on the purge of genetic load: Implications for conservation biology." Rice
University, Houston, TX. (2006)
"Experiments on the purge of genetic load: Implications for conservation biology." University
of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA. (2006)
"Experiments on the purge of genetic load: Implications for conservation biology." University
of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. (2006)
"Humans as custodians of the animal kingdom: Concerns in conservation biology." University
of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. (2006)
"Humans as custodians of the animal kingdom: Concerns in conservation biology." Rice
University, Houston, TX. (2006)
"Humans as custodians of the animal kingdom: Concerns in conservation biology." Rice
University, Scientia Series: Humans and Animals, Houston, TX. (2005)
"It takes two to tango: Male-female interactions in housefly courtship." Entomological Society
of American, Ft. Lauderdale FLA. (2005)
"Statistical methods in experiments on speciation and conservation biology." Rice University,
Houston, TX. (2005)
"The genetic architecture of housefly mating behavior." Rice University, Houston, TX. (2005)
"Experimental tests of captive breeding strategies.." American Zoological Association TAG
Meeting in Herpetology, Houston, Texas. (March, 2004.)
"Experiments in speciation theory and conservation biology.." Trinity University, San Antonio,
Texas. (March, 2004.)
"Experiments on the escape from extinction: Lessons from the common housefly.."
International Conference on Complex Systems, New England Complex Systems Institute,
Quincy, Massachusetts. (May, 2004.)
"Experiments on the escape from extinction: Lessons from the common housefly.." Tulane
University, New Orleans, Lousiana. (September, 2004.)
"The genetic architecture of housefly mating behavior.." Gordon Conference on "Genes and
Behavior", Ventura, California. (February, 2004.)
""Darwin and his theory."." Rice Continuing Studies Program, Rice University. (February 2003)
""Experiments in speciation theory and conservation biology."." Joint Symposium of the
Howard Hughes Institute and the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Rice
University. (January 2003)
""Introduction to evolutionary biology"." Center for Educational Outreach, Baylor College of
Medicine. (June 2003)
"Nonadditive genetic effects in animal behavior: Implications for speciation theory and
conservation biology." International Conference on Commplex Systems/New England Complex
Systems Institute, Nashua, New Hampshire. (June, 2002)
Lectures
"Basic principles of evolutionary biology." The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts,
Houston, Texas. (February, 2002)
"Darwinsm as paradigm science." Scientia, Rice University. (October, 2002)
"Nonadditive genetic effects in animal behavior." Rice University, Houston, Texas. (September
2002)
Other
"Interview for The New Scientist." (2005)
"A speciation experiment: Selection for divergent courtship form results in reproductive
isolation." Society for the Study of Evolution/University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
(June 2002) With S. Hicks and J. Regan
"A test of sexual antagonism in houseflies." Society for the Study of Evolution/University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. (June 2002) With S. Hicks
"How speciation experiments relate to conservation biology: Lessons from the common
housefly (Seminar)." Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA. (February)
"How speciation experiments relate to conservation biology: Lessons from the common
housefly (Seminar)." Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA. (March)
"How speciation experiments relate to conservation biology: Lessons from the common
housefly (Seminar)." Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. (October)
"Nonadditive genetic effects in animal behavior (Symposium)." Animal Behavior Society,
University of Oregon, Corvallis, Oregon, USA. (July) With Sara K. Hicks, Jennifer L. Regan
"The Opponent for dissertation defense of Bottlenecks and Blowflies: Speciation, Reproduction
and Morphological Variation in Lucilia." Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. (October)
"Environmental Institute of Houston: 2000 Research Assessment Program." Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board, Clear Lake, Texas. (April 2000)
"Experimental tests of speciation theory." Rice University, Houston, Texas. (January 2000)
"How speciation experiments relate to conservation biology: Lessons from the common
housefly." University of Houston, Downtown Campus, Houston, Texas. (March 2000)
Panelist
""Darwinism and its cultural legacies: A Panel."." Rice Continuing Studies Program, Rice
University. (February 2003)
"Grant review panel in evolutionary biology." NASA, Arlington, Virginia. (April, 2002)
Posters
"Genetic and Demographic Factors in the Conservation of the Alligator Snapping Turtle,
Macroclemys temminckii." Society for the Study of Evolution, Fairbanks, AK. (June 2005) With
A. Swann
"Testing the effects of inbreeding and outbreeding on a metapopulation." Society for the Study
of Evolution, Fairbanks, AK. (June 2005) With A. Swann
"The effects of supportive breeding on wild populations." Society for the Study of Evolution,
Fairbanks, AK. (June 2005) With A. Hardin
"Experiments on the escape from extinction.." Society for the Study of Evolution, Ft. Collins,
Colorado. (June, 2004.)
"Tests on the repeatability of housefly courtship behavior.." Society for the Study of Evolution,
Ft. Collins, Colorado. (June, 2004.) With K. L. Hagenbuch
"An experimental test of captive breeding strategies: Assays of fitness, inbreeding and genetic
variability in Musca domestica." Society for the Study of Evolution/University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. (June 2002) With Emily Wheeler
Workshops
"Experiments in evolutionary biology." Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. (June,
2002)
Editorial Positions
Associate Editor, Genetica. (2008 - 2008)
Associate Editor, Genetica. (2007 - 2007)
Associate Editor, Genetica. (2005 - 2005)
Associate Editor, Genetica. (2006 - 2006)
Other, Evolution. (2002 - 2002)
Other, Conservation Genetics. (2002 - 2002)
Other, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. (2002 - 2002)
Other, Genetics. (2002 - 2002)
Other, Animal Behaviour. (2002 - 2002)
Other, American Naturalist. (2002 - 2002)
Supervised Theses & Dissertations
Bo Wang, Ph.D. Analysis of physiological roles of Drosophila calmodulin through in vivo
genetic and in vitro structure/function studies. (2002) (Committee Member)
Veronica Hall-O'Connell, Ph.D. Broad-Complex, A Mediator of Ecdysone Induced Stress in
Drosophila melanogaster. (2004) (Committee Member)
Sara Kolb Hicks, Ph.D. The effects of competition on courtship behavior in the housefly, Musca
domestica. (2004) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)
Raquel Adham, Ph.D. Molecular and Genetic Analysis of IBA Homeostasis and Action in
Arabidopsis. (2005) (Committee Member)
Kara Hagenbuch, Ph.D. Experience-Dependent Courtship Modification in the Housefly, Musca
domestica. (2005) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)
Clea Scala, M.A. Polymorphism of Microsatellites in Coding Regions of Dictyostelium
discoideum. (2005) (Committee Member)
Autumn Hardin, Ph.D. Studies in conservation biology (no title). (Thesis or Dissertation
Director)
Emily R. Wheeler, Undergraduate Honors/RUSP The genetics of near-extinction: Theoretical
and functional applications of allozyme analysis of inbreeding in housefly populations. (Thesis
or Dissertation Director)
Kara L. Stabler, Ph.D. Estimating heritabilities and repeatabilities of male learning and female
preferences in the mating behavior of the housefly. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)
Sara K. Hicks, Ph.D. The effects of competition, induced by population density, on mating
behavior in the housefly. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)
Amaris Swann, Ph.D. Studies in conservation biology (no title). (Thesis or Dissertation
Director)
Awards, Prizes, & Fellowships
Phi Beta Kappa 2006 Teaching Prize, Phi Beta Kappa (05/12/2006)
Distinguished faculty associate, Hanszen College (May)
Distinguished Faculty Associate, Hanszen College (2002-2003)
Outstanding Faculty Associate, Hanszen College (2001-2002)
ADVANCE grant review panelist, National Science Foundation (December)
Grant Advisory Panelist: Program in Animal Behavior, National Science Foundation (April
2000)
Participant in a workshop on Biotechnology and the Integration of Behavioral Science, National
Science Foundation (August 2000)
Grant Advisory Panelist: Program in Animal Behavior, National Science Foundation (October
2000)