Departmental Seminar

Title: 

Convergence and Diversification of Complex Traits in Vertebrates: Lessons from the Transcriptome

Abstract:

Life on Earth is remarkably diverse, yet evolutionary biologists have uncovered striking cases where even distantly related species independently evolve similar behaviors, morphologies, and functions. Given the role of happenstance in evolution—through random mutations, genetic drift, and environmental stochasticity—it is often assumed that the genetic and developmental mechanisms underlying convergent traits are distinct. However, recent discoveries revealing that the same molecular pathways can drive convergence have reignited debates about the predictability of evolution and the role of conserved genomic mechanisms in facilitating similar phenotypic outcomes. In this talk, I will present our recent work investigating the transcriptomic, genomic, and developmental underpinnings of phenotypic variation in frogs and fishes, with an eye toward traits that have evolved convergently across populations and species. 

Biography: 

Becca Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UT Austin. She earned a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona and did postdoctoral research at Yale University's Systems Biology Institute. Becca's research program asks how the diversity of forms, functions, and behaviors develop and evolve. Her lab integrates developmental and genomic approaches to uncover the causes of phenotypic variation and explain how this variation contributes to functional and ecological diversity across mammals, avian and non-avian reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. In addition, Becca is deeply committed to mentoring early-career scientists. She conceptualized and developed the experiential learning Freshman Research Initiative Stream, EvoDevOmics. Through this program, students gain high-demand workforce skills—including R and Bash coding and next-generation sequencing data analysis—while investigating fundamental questions in EvoDevo. Learn more about the Young lab here: https://sites.utexas.edu/beccayoungevodevolab/.