EDUCATION:
2005-present:
Ph.D. University of Missouri St. Louis. Advisor: Patty Parker
2001-2005:
B.A. Bowdoin College (Honors in Biology). Advisor: Nat Wheelwright
RESEARCH
INTERESTS:
I am interested in disease ecology and evolutionary biology, particularly
in questions relating to how and when pathogens and parasites move
between different host species. Host specificity is an important
determinant of many fundamental properties of parasitic organisms,
such as their ability to switch to new host species. Host switching
in particular is of great interest to wildlife managers; if a parasite
moves readily between host species, the potential for that parasite
to spread in wildlife communities can be much greater. Depending
on the parasite’s life history, there may be a greater degree of
host specificity and less of an opportunity for host switching due
to reduced contact between hosts, or the inability of the parasite
to survive off of the host for extended periods of time. More mobile
parasites (e.g. flies) or parasites that require an intermediate
host (e.g. haemoproteus vectored by a mosquito or a louse fly) would
be predicted to be less host specific than most lice, which cannot
readily survive off their host and are thought to be usually transmitted
vertically from parent to offspring. Birds are a fantastic system
for the exploration of host-parasite evolution, as they are well
studied ecologically and have some of the most thoroughly surveyed
parasite groups of any animal group. Parasites vary widely in their
life histories, including their dependence on the host, their host
specificity, life cycle, impact on the host’s reproductive success
and survival and in their dispersal abilities. Questions regarding
host-parasite dynamics are not new, but have benefited greatly by
the development and refinement of molecular tools and phylogenetics.
Using molecular sequence data, one can reconstruct the evolutionary
history of both the hosts and the parasites they harbor, to answer
questions related to host-parasite specificity, parasite and host
diversification, and host switching by the parasites.
My dissertation research investigates host specificity and host
sharing/switching in the context of life history differences between
three parasites in a group of related seabirds. These three parasites
are Haemoproteus-like
protozoan blood parasites, Louse flies (Hippoboscidae),
and chewing lice (Phthiraptera:Ichnocera).
The host species studied include Great Frigatebirds (Fregata
minor),
Magnificent Frigatebirds (Fregata
magnificens),
Red-footed Boobies (Sula
sula),
Blue-footed Boobies (Sula
nebouxii)
and Nazca Boobies (Sula
granti)
on five different islands within the Galapagos archipelago By considering
populations of closely related species, we can investigate more
recent host-parasite dynamics. By sampling these species on different
islands, we can assess the effect of geographic isolation in shaping
the evolutionary history of these lineages, providing us with a
deeper understanding of how these different parasites evolve with
their hosts at different sites.
UNDERGRADUATE
RESEARCH:
I completed my undergraduate degree at Bowdoin
College
in Brunswick, Maine in May 2005, where I worked with Dr.
Nathaniel Wheelwright
and Dr.
Freeman-Gallant
(Skidmore College) on an honors thesis investigating the role of
song in cultural evolution and mate choice in the Savannah sparrow
(Passerculus
sandwichensis)
at the Bowdoin
Scientific Station
on foggy Kent Island in New Brunswick, Canada. The population of
Savannah sparrows has been studied intensively since 1987, and songs
have been recorded since the 1960s. Using this rich data set, I
addressed four central questions: Whether or not morphology constrains
song, if and how song is transmitted between individuals, how and
why songs have changed over a 26-year period, and how song rate
affects mate choice.
PUBLICATIONS:
Wheelwright
NT, MB Swett, II
Levin,
DE Kroodsma, CR Freeman-Gallant and H
Williams. 2007. The influence of different tutor types on song learning
in a
natural bird population. Animal Behaviour. In press.
Perrott,
J.K., Levin,
I.I., and
E.A. Hyde. 2007. Morphology, distribution and
desiccation of the Brown Garden snail (Cantareus
aspersus)
in northern New
Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 31:60-67.
Iris
Levin
Ph.D.
Candidate
Advisor:
Dr. Patricia Parker
