John Niedzwiecki
Growing up in eastern Pennsylvania, I have always been interested in outdoor pursuits and the natural world. Since my dad took me backpacking on the Appalachian Trail near my house when I was 7, I have enjoyed hiking and backpacking, as well as climbing, SCUBA diving, and canoeing. I attended Shippensburg University, graduating with a B.S. in Biology. During those years I spent my summers either at biology field stations or as a summer counselor for the nature/ecology program at a Cub Scout camp. In college, I was most fascinated by classes in ecology and evolution and have pursued these interests ever since.
I am primarily interested in population genetics, evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology. Most recently I have worked on the migration of Darwin's Finches between islands in the Galapagos, investigating connections with ecology as well as the evolutionary consequences of migration, as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cincinnati. For my dissertation work at the University of Kentucky, I worked extensively with ambystomatid (mole) salamanders in the South and Midwest…including salamanders from nearby Murfreesboro, TN! My research showed that these salamanders were evolutionarily distinct from their relatives in Kentucky and central Ohio. This spring I am planning to collaborate with Dr. Brian Miller at MTSU to better understand the conservation value of these isolated populations.
I began my study of biology interested in ecology and the adaptation of organisms to their environment, through changes in morphology, life history and behavior. Since evolution is ultimately a genetic problem, the best way to understand how the environment is affecting a population is through population genetics, studying changes in gene frequency over time and space. To this end, we use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify genetic markers. We can then analyze these data with a variety of computer modeling programs to trace gene flow across the landscape and establish historic and ongoing relationships between populations. Students doing genetic experiments in my lab will be able to combine field collection, some of the latest lab techniques, and advanced mathematical software to investigate the interconnectedness of salamander populations. The connections among these populations may affect their ability to persist as the landscape becomes increasingly developed, making this work relevant to conservation. There will also be opportunities to conduct more direct behavioral experiments, linking behavior to the specific local threats a population may face. We will compare differences in life history and the responses to prey or predators that may vary over the range of the organism.
I am settling into Nashville with my wife Dr. Meg Streams, our dog and two cats, and we look forward to experiencing the outdoor experiences central Tennessee has to offer (well, not the cats, they are more interested in viewing the outdoors from Nashville's sunny windowsills).
I'd like to contact Dr. Niedzwiecki.
