Cory Kremer 
I am interested in the diversity of traits within a species; how populations adapt to local conditions. To address the broad topic of local adaptation, I am investigating adaptation to local environments in brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) in Albertan lakes. The role of local predator, and interspecific competitor regimes in local adaptation is of particular interest to me. For local adaptation to occur, sufficiently low gene flow must be present to prevent the effects of selection from being ‘diluted’ by immigration. Because gene flow has an inhibitory effect on selection, understanding the population structure of an organisms is critical to understanding how organisms adapt to local conditions. As a result of the importance of gene flow in local adaption I am also interested in dispersal of organisms across a landscape. Using molecular tools I am investigating the population structure of brook stickleback, and the potential of these sticklebacks disperse between lakes with no apparent inflows or outflows. Lastly I hope to investigate the genetic mechanisms which control brook stickleback armor characteristics, and the similarities of these mechanisms to threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).
