Wildlife Genomics Lab @ Smith College
Principal Investigator
Dr. Tanya Lama received her doctorate from UMass Amherst and completed the National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology jointly hosted by the Dávalos Lab at SUNY Stony Brook and the Karlsson Lab at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. Using genomic methods, Dr. Lama studies the evolutionary processes underlying population vulnerability, resilience, and response, particularly in the context of global climate change. Her applied conservation research on Canada lynx (L. canadensis) demonstrates how genomics can bridge the gap between research, management, and policy. The Wildlife Genomics Lab at Smith College focuses on how life history traits – particularly lifespan – can shape evolutionary responses to rapid environmental change. Along with key collaborators Drs. Liliana Davalos (SUNY Stony Brook) and Emma Teeling (University College Dublin), Dr. Lama uses comparative genomics to explore the evolution and mechanisms of aging in long-lived and short-lived species of bats and other mammals. In addition to her role as a research fellow, she received teaching pedagogy and leadership training from National Institutes of Health NY-CAPS IRACDA – a targeted program for the development of underrepresented minority scholars in biomedical research.
Contact
Email: tlama@smith.edu
Group Members
Dr. Blair Bentley is a molecular ecologist with a focus on understanding the impacts of climate change on marine taxa. Blair is joining the lab in December 2023 as a postdoc and instructor of Bioinformatics and Comparative Molecular Biology (BIO334/5) offered in Spring 2024. Blair’s research interests are centred around conserving biodiversity in the face of anthropogenic climate change and utilizing molecular tools to explore vulnerability and resilience. —
Contact
Email: bbentley@smith.edu
Margo Weber is an MSc candidate in the Wildlife Genomics Lab. She was recently selected as a 2023 Time Initiative Fellow for her proposed research on bat lifespan evolution. —
Contact
Email: mkweber@smith.edu
Lucy Gould is an undergraduate researcher and lead teaching assistant for Genomics (BIO 336/7). —
Contact
Email: lgould@smith.edu
Andrea Batista —
Contact
Email: abatista@smith.edu