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Kevin Oh














 

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

In general, I am interested in reproductive behaviors and the evolution of sexually selected traits.  Specifically, I seek to understand how natural selection acts on mate choice and how this may in turn affect the strength of sexual selection in a wild population of birds.  Additionally, I ask how individual mate preference is influenced by prior experience and life history stage.

CONTACT INFORMATION


EDUCATION

  • University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Ph.D. candidate, Dept. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Advisor: Alexander V. Badyaev, 2003-present.
  • Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, B.A. with Honors in Biology and Environmental Studies, cum laude, Advisor: Nathaniel T. Wheelwright, 1997-2001


EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

  • Graduate Research Assistant, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ: Evolution and ontogeny of conditional mating strategies, 2005-pres.
  • Graduate Research Assistant, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ: Evolution of maternal effects, 2004-2005.
  • Field Research Technician, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY: Study of parental strategies, mating behavior, and genetic compatibility in birds. Summer 2003
  • Biology and Chemistry Teacher, Hyde School, Bath, ME: Taught three sections of lecture and lab courses at a private college-preparatory school, 2001-2003
  • Field Research Technician, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA: Quantified habitat quality, examined population demography and reproductive biology of a migratory warbler at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, Summer 2001.
  • Field Research Technician, Bowdoin Biological Station, Kent Island, NB, Canada: Territory mapping, mist netting, and detailing reproductive biology and behavior in birds, Summers 2000, 2002.

HONORS AND AWARDS

  • Galileo Circle Scholarship, College of Science, University of Arizona, 2007
  • North American Ornithological Societies Travel Grant, 2006
  • American Ornithologists’ Union Student Membership Award, 2005-08
  • Silliman Memorial Research Award, 2004, 2005, 2006
  • EEB Graduate Student Research Stipend, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
  • Honorable Mention, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2003, 2004
  • University of Arizona Graduate College Fellowship, 2003
  • America’s Top Scholar Award, 2003
  • Dean’s List, Bowdoin College, 1997-1999
  • Sarah and James Bowdoin Scholar, 1997

PUBLICATIONS (.pdfs here):

Oh. K.P. and A.V. Badyaev. 2009. Isolation and characterization of seventeen microsatellite loci for the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). Molecular Ecology Research: In press.

Oh, K. P. and A.V. Badyaev. 2008. Evolution of adaptation and mate choice: Parental relatedness affects expression of phenotypic variance in a natural population. Evolutionary Biology 35: 111-124.

Oh, K.P., and A.V. Badyaev. 2006. Adaptive genetic complementarity in mate choice coexists with preference for elaborate sexual traits. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences 273: 1913-1919.

Badyaev, A.V., R. L. Young, K. P. Oh, and C. Addison. 2008. Evolution on a local scale: Developmental, functional, and genetic bases of divergence in bill form and associated changes in song structure between adjacent habitats. Evolution 62: 1951-1964.

Badyaev, A.V., and K. P. Oh. 2008. Environmental induction and phenotypic retention of adaptive maternal effects. BMC Evolutionary Biology 8:3 doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-8-3

Badyaev, A.V., Hamstra, T.L., Oh, K.P., and D. Acevedo Seaman. 2006. Sex-biased maternal effects reduce ectoparasite-induced mortality in a passerine bird. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 103: 14406-14411.

Badyaev, A.V., K.P. Oh, R. Mui. 2006 Evolution of sex-biased maternal effects in birds: II. Contrasting sex-specific oocyte competition in native and recently established populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19: 909-921.

Lindstedt, E., K.P. Oh, and A.V. Badyaev. 2006. Ecological, social, and genetic contingency of extrapair behavior in a socially monogamous bird. Journal of Avian Biology 38: 214-238.

Oh, K.P. 2001. The influence of age and sex on territory size in Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis), Undergraduate honors thesis, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME.

CONTRIBUTED SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS:

Oh, K.P. and A.V. Badyaev. 2008. Evolution of adaptation and mate choice: Parental relatedness affects expression of phenotypic variance in a natural population. Evolution 2008 Meeting, St. Paul, MN

Oh, K.P. and A.V. Badyaev. 2007  The ontogeny of mate preferences: does juvenile experience matter?  125th Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union, Laramie, WY.

Oh, K.P. and A.V. Badyaev. 2006. Evolution of adaptive mate choice in relation to age-dependent reproductive strategies. IV North American Ornithological Conference, Veracruz, Mexico.

Badyaev, A. V and Oh, K.P. 2006. Evolution of maternal effects: from environmental induction to genetic accommodation. Joint conference of the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Society of Systematic Biologists, and the American Society of Naturalists, Stony Brook , NY.

Badyaev, A. V and Oh, K.P. 2005. Sex-specific oocyte competition as a constraint on sex-ratio adjustment. 123rd Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, Santa Barbara, CA.

Oh, K.P. and A. V. Badyaev. 2005. The evolution of context-dependent biparental investment strategies: Cooperation or conflict? 123rd Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, Santa Barbara, CA.

Oh, K.P. and A. V. Badyaev. 2005. Condition-dependent genetic complementarity in mate choice. Joint conference of the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Society of Systematic Biologists, and the American Society of Naturalists, Fairbanks, AK.

Oh, K.P. and A. V. Badyaev. 2005 Fitness consequences of differential reproductive allocation in relation to sexual ornament elaboration in a passerine bird. 2005 Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, San Diego CA

Oh, K.P. and A. V. Badyaev. 2004. Phenotypic and genetic complementarity in mate choice. 122 Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists Union

Oh, K.P. and A. V. Badyaev. 2004. Is there someone for everyone? Evolutionary consequences of phenotypic and genetic complementarity in mate choice. Society for the Study of Evolution and American Naturalists' Society Meeting, Fort Collins, CO


PROFESSIONAL SERVICE: Reviewer for Evolution (1 manuscript), Functional Ecology (1 manuscript), Journal of Evolutionary Biology (1 manuscript), Evolutionary Ecology (1 manuscript), Behavioral Ecology (1 manuscript), Animal Behaviour (1 manuscript), and Wilson Bulletin (1 manuscript).

RESEARCH FEATURED IN:

Scientific American, Science, UA News, CBC Radio interview, Quirks & Quarks site, Arizona Daily Star, Image of the Day-LiveScience, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Terra Daily, Noorderlicht Online, VPRO, Biology-Blog, Die Zeit, Die News in Kürze-3Sat, InnovReport, NewsWise


MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

American Ornithologists Union
Society for the Study of Evolution
American Society of Naturalists

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

Graduate Teaching Assistant: Evolution of Animal Form & Function (ECOL 330), University of Arizona, Fall 2004 [35 students]; Vertebrate Physiology (ECOL 437), Univeristy of Arizona, Fall 2006 [30 students in 2 lab sections]

Guest lecturer: Ornithology (ECOL 484), University of Arizona, Spring 2007; Vertebrate Physiology (ECOL 437), University of Arizona, Fall 2006; Evolution of Form & Function (ECOL 330), University of Arizona, Fall 2003, 2004, 2005.

High School Biology and Chemistry Teacher, Hyde School, Bath, ME (2001-2003)

Biology Tutor, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME (1999-2001)

OTHER: w.w. canoeing,classical guitar, woodworking, backcountry skiing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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