My research is focused on finding and studying the genetic variation causing performance and fitness variation in the wild. I am currently funded by the Academy of Finland as an independent Academy Research Fellow. This grant provides me with 5 years of salary, a postdoctoral researcher, and generous research funds.  I have also recently accepted a position in Biosciences at University of Exeter in the UK and plan to move there in approximately two years once the new Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) building is completed in 2012.

The goal of my current grant is to develop a mechanistic understanding of the observed correlation between Pgi genetic variation and fitness effects in the wild. I am tackling this question at three separate levels: a biochemical analysis of PGI enzyme performance, an analysis of the metabolic context of PGI by studing the enzyme kinetics of neighboring enzymes, and an investigation into the patterns of variation along the chromosome near Pgi, across several populations.

As an Associate Editor for the open access journal BMC Genomics (Impact Factor 4.1) I am working to increase the number and quality of transcritpome studies published, with a special focus upon non-model species. 

Please click on any of the three tabs above for more information regarding my recent projects or find specific research projects, publications, or information about my students from the menu on top.