Faculty>Robert Dawley

Robert M. Dawley, Professor of Biology; B.S., B.A., M.S., Wayne State University; Ph.D., University of Connecticut.

Dr. Dawley and his students study the genetics of unisexual (all-female) hybrid fishes.  Unisexual hybrids reproduce clonally, without input of a paternal genome, and often include polyploids (triploids, tetraploids, etc.).   How do these fishes manage this and what are the ecological consequences?  In the past, he, his faculty colleague Kate Goddard, and their students have addressed these questions using techniques like gel electrophoresis, tissue grafting, and flow cytometry to study unisexual hybrids in the North America genera Phoxinus (a minnow) and Fundulus (a killifish).  He also co-teaches Biology of the Neotropics with Dr. Ellen Dawley.