Kira Delmore
  • Assistant Professor
Research Areas
  • Biological Clocks
  • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics & Genomics

Biography

Joined the Department in 2018

Associations:

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research Interests

We study the processes of adaptation and speciation using hybrid zones and variation within single species. These systems are ideal for studying evolutionary processes; they allow us to concentrate on the early stages of speciation and work in natural contexts. Our work focuses specifically on the phenotypic and genetic basis of adaptation and speciation and is aided by recent advances in several fields. For example, we are very interested in the role differences in seasonal migration play in speciation and the genetic basis of this behaviour syndrome. Advances in animal movement ecology and genomic are allowing answer questions we never thought possible. Much of our work focuses on single systems but wherever possible we expand out into larger comparative work using data from museum specimens and sequence archives.


Laboratory Details

Laboratory Address:
Biological Sciences Building West
Room 119 
979-845-6626

Educational Background

  • B.Sc., Queen’s University, Canada, Biology
  • M.A. University of Calgary, Canada, Anthropology (Primatology)
  • Ph.D., 2015 University of British Columbia, Zoology
  • Postdoctoral research, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Germany

Selected Publications

    1. Alario, A, Trevino, M, Justen, H, Woodman, CJ, Roth, TC, Delmore, KE et al.. Learning and memory in hybrid migratory songbirds: cognition as a reproductive isolating barrier across seasons. Sci Rep. 2023;13 (1):10866. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-37379-4. PubMed PMID:37407574 PubMed Central PMC10322843.
    2. Thorn, CS, Maness, RW, Hulke, JM, Delmore, KE, Criscione, CD. Population genomics of helminth parasites. J Helminthol. 2023;97 :e29. doi: 10.1017/S0022149X23000123. PubMed PMID:36927601 .
    3. de Greef, E, Suh, A, Thorstensen, MJ, Delmore, KE, Fraser, KC. Genomic architecture of migration timing in a long-distance migratory songbird. Sci Rep. 2023;13 (1):2437. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29470-7. PubMed PMID:36765096 PubMed Central PMC9918537.
    4. Justen, H, Delmore, KE. The genetics of bird migration. Curr Biol. 2022;32 (20):R1144-R1149. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.008. PubMed PMID:36283382 .
    5. Justen, H, Hasselmann, T, Illera, JC, Delmore, KE, Serrano, D, Flinks, H et al.. Population-specific association of Clock gene polymorphism with annual cycle timing in stonechats. Sci Rep. 2022;12 (1):7947. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11158-z. PubMed PMID:35562382 PubMed Central PMC9106710.
    6. Delmore, KE, Van Doren, BM, Conway, GJ, Curk, T, Garrido-Garduño, T, Germain, RR et al.. Individual variability and versatility in an eco-evolutionary model of avian migration. Proc Biol Sci. 2020;287 (1938):20201339. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1339. PubMed PMID:33143577 PubMed Central PMC7735267.
    7. Justen, H, Kimmitt, AA, Delmore, KE. Estimating hybridization rates in the wild: Easier said than done?. Evolution. 2021;75 (8):2137-2144. doi: 10.1111/evo.14082. PubMed PMID:32820532 .
    8. Rennison, DJ, Delmore, KE, Samuk, K, Owens, GL, Miller, SE. Shared Patterns of Genome-Wide Differentiation Are More Strongly Predicted by Geography Than by Ecology. Am Nat. 2020;195 (2):192-200. doi: 10.1086/706476. PubMed PMID:32017617 .
    9. Delmore, KE, Liedvogel, M. Avian Population Genomics Taking Off: Latest Findings and Future Prospects. Methods Mol Biol. 2020;2090 :413-433. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0199-0_17. PubMed PMID:31975177 .
    10. Delmore, KE, Lugo Ramos, JS, Van Doren, BM, Lundberg, M, Bensch, S, Irwin, DE et al.. Comparative analysis examining patterns of genomic differentiation across multiple episodes of population divergence in birds. Evol Lett. 2018;2 (2):76-87. doi: 10.1002/evl3.46. PubMed PMID:30283666 PubMed Central PMC6121856.
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