Division welcomes Dr. Justin Van Goor and Dr. Allison Roth
Division welcomes Dr. Justin Van Goor and Dr. Allison Roth
The Division is excited to have two Preparing Future Faculty for Inclusive Excellence (PFFIE) Postdoctoral Fellows join our team. PFFIE is designed to promote and develop scholars for tenure-track faculty positions at the University of Missouri or elsewhere, in any discipline.
Dr. Justin Van Goor is an evolutionary ecologist broadly interested in the maintenance and interactions of biological community associates, mostly using nematodes as a focal taxon. His research capitalizes on the fig-fig wasp mutualism as well as the multitude of other organisms (notably Parasitodiplogaster nematodes) that interact with these partners, as a model to better understand how communities are structured and are modulated over evolutionary timescales. His lab combines “classical” fieldwork, genomics/phylogenomics, greenhouse manipulations, and laboratory-based experiments.
Animals do not exist in a vacuum, and social interactions can have important consequences for survival and reproduction. Using California quail and three-spined stickleback, Dr. Allison Roth’s research integrates across multiple biological levels to explore the evolutionary implications and selective consequences of animal sociality. She also draws on sociality research to examine questions related to disease ecology, sexual selection, and animal personality (i.e., consistent between individual variation in behavior).
