Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics 2016, a NIMBioS Tutorial

[Melanie Colón]

The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis

(NIMBioS) is now accepting applications for its Tutorial, "Evolutionary

Quantitative Genetics 2016," to be held August 8-12, 2016, at NIMBioS.

 

*Objectives: *This tutorial will review the basics of theory in the

field of evolutionary quantitative genetics and its connections to

evolution observed at various time scales. Quantitative genetics deals

with the inheritance of measurements of traits that are affected by many

genes. Quantitative genetic theory for natural populations was developed

considerably in the period from 1970 to 1990 and up to the present, and

it has been applied to a wide range of phenomena including the evolution

of differences between the sexes, sexual preferences, life history

traits, plasticity of traits, as well as the evolution of body size and

other morphological measurements. Textbooks have not kept pace with

these developments, and currently few universities offer courses in this

subject aimed at evolutionary biologists. There is a need for

evolutionary biologists to understand this field because of the ability

to collect large amounts of data by computer, the development of

statistical methods for changes of traits on evolutionary trees and for

changes in a single species through time, and the realization that

quantitative characters will not soon be fully explained by genomics.

This tutorial aims to fill this need by reviewing basic aspects of

theory and illustrating how that theory can be tested with data, both

from single species and with multiple-species phylogenies. Participants

will learn to use R, an open-source statistical programming language, to

build and test evolutionary models. The intended participants for this

tutorial are graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty members in

evolutionary biology.

 

The content of this tutorial will be similar to the tutorial held at

NIMBioS in 2015. For more information about that tutorial, visit

http://www.nimbios.org/tutorials/TT_eqg2015

 

For more information about the 2016 tutorial and a link to the online

application form, go to http://www.nimbios.org/tutorials/TT_eqg2016

 

*Location: *NIMBioS at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville

 

*Co-Organizers: *Stevan J. Arnold, Integrative Biology, Oregon State

Univ. and Joe Felsenstein, Genome Sciences, Univ. of Washington, Seattle

 

*Instructors: *Stevan J. Arnold, Integrative Biology, Oregon State

Univ.; Patrick Carter, Evolutionary Physiology, Washington State Univ.,

Pullman; Joe Felsenstein, Genome Sciences, Univ. of Washington, Seattle;

Adam Jones, Biology, Texas A&M Univ.; Emilia Martins, Biology, Indiana

Univ., Bloomington; Brian O'Meara, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Univ.

of Tennessee; and Josef Uyeda, Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies,

Univ. of Idaho, Moscow. Others TBA.

 

*Co-Sponsor:* The American Society of Naturalists

 

There are no fees associated with this tutorial. Tutorial participation

in the tutorial is by application only. Individuals with a strong

interest in the topic, including post-docs and graduate students, are

encouraged to apply, and successful applicants will be notified within

two weeks of the application deadline.

 

*Food and Lodging: *Breakfast and lunch will be provided at NIMBioS each

day of the tutorial, as well as coffee and mid-morning and mid-afternoon

snacks. NIMBioS is not covering dinner, travel, or lodging expenses for

participants. A block of rooms at a group rate will be reserved at the

Four Points by Sheraton Knoxville Cumberland House Hotel. More

information will be available here soon about room rates and how

participants can make reservations.

 

*Application deadline:* May 1, 2016

 

The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis

(NIMBioS) (http://www.nimbios.org) brings together researchers from

around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to

investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life

sciences. NIMBioS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, with

additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

 

*****************************

Catherine Crawley, Ph.D.

Communications Manager

National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS)

University of Tennessee

1122 Volunteer Blvd, Ste. 106

Knoxville, TN 37996

e ccrawley@nimbios.org

t +1 865 974 9350

f +1 865 974 9461

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