The University of Toledo

Great Lakes Genetics Lab

Research Personnel

Amanda Haponski
Graduate Student
amanda.haponski@rockets.utoledo.edu
CV 2010

Haponski, A.E., T. Bollin, M. Jedlicka, and C.A. Stepien. 2009.  Genetic divergence patterns of the rainbow darter Etheostoma caeruleum:  A watershed analysis using mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellites.  Journal of Fish Biology, 75:2244-2268. (Full text PDF)

Stepien, C.A., D.J. Murphy, R.N. Lohner, O.J. Sepulveda-Villet, and A.E. Haponski .  2009.  Signatures of vicariance, postglacial dispersal, and spawning philopatry: Population genetics of the walleye Sander vitreus.  Molecular Ecology, 18:3411-3428. (Full text PDF)

Stepien, C.A., D.J. Murphy, R.N. Lohner, A.E. Haponski, and O.J. Sepulveda-Villet. 2010.  Status and delineation of walleye genetic stock structure across the Great Lakes.  In Status of Walleye in the Great Lakes:  proceedings of the 2006 symposium. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Technical Report, 69 pp, 189-223. (Full text PDF)

Stepien, C.A. and A.E. Haponski*. 2010. Systematics of the greenside darter Etheostoma blennioides complex: Consensus from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 57:434-447. (Full text PDF)

Research Interests:
My research interests include phylogeography, population genetics, systematics, ecology and natural history of marine and freshwater fishes.

Projects:
I received my master’s degree from the University of Toledo in December of 2007 and decided to continue on for my Ph.D. in Carol Stepien’s lab.  My thesis focused on a morphologic, genetic, and biogeographic comparison of two known subspecies of the Greenside Darter (Etheostoma blennioides Rafinesque 1819). I used a variety of morphological characters (i.e. scale counts) and molecular data to determine if these two subspecies should really be considered as subspecies.  I also finished up a study looking at the genetic variation of the Rainbow Darter Etheostoma caeruleum in the Lake Erie Region and worked with a local high school teacher Mr. Tim Bollin.  My dissertation research focuses on Lake Erie walleye (Sander vitreus), an important commercial fishery species.  I am using archived scale samples to compare the genetic variation of walleye in Lake Erie over the past 50 years and also looking at the genus Sander and comparing morphological characters and molecular data to determine the systematic relationships among the species.  I also participated in the National Science Foundation's GK-12 program from 2008-2010 and was paired again with Mr. Tim Bollin from the Toledo Early College High School.  He and I co-instructed a Science Research course focused on water quality of the Toledo Area.  In this course students developed and carried out independent research projects and presented their results at local science fairs.

Lindsey R. Pierce
Graduate Student
lindsey.pierce@rockets.utoledo.edu
CV 2012

Lindsey R. Pierce, Yniv Palti, Jeffrey T. Silverstein, Fredrick T. Barrows, Eric M. Hallerman, James E. Parson. 2008. Family growth response to fishmeal and plant-based diets shows genotype x diet interaction in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Aquaculture 278, 37-42. (Full text PDF)

Research Interests:
My research interests include population genetics, conservation genetics, aquaculture genetics, nutrigenomics, epidemiology, and spatial ecology.

Projects:
I received my B.S. in Animal and Veterinary Science from West Virginia University in May of 2006. Furthering my interest in genetics I then went to work with Dr. Caird Rexroad III at the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture. Here I assisted in the completion of the genomic linkage map for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), development of a bac DNA library for rainbow trout, and a Flavobacteriuim disease challenge. I then started on my master’s thesis research with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University primarily focusing on nutrigenomics. I used a variety of programs to analyze family growth response to two separate diets to determine if a genotype x diet interaction existed. While presenting my work at the Annual AFS meeting I became interested in the research conducted at the Great Lakes Genetics Laboratory. After completion of my M.S. in July of 2008 I decided to further my education by working toward a Ph.D. in Dr. Carol Stepien’s lab. My dissertation research will focus on the genetic detection and geographic analysis of Great Lake fishes infected by Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS).

Timothy Sullivan
Graduate Student
timothy.sullivan@rockets.utoledo.edu 
CV 2011

Research Interests:
My research interests include phylogeography, population and landscape genetics, fisheries and aquatic ecology and conservation.

Projects:
I received my B.A. in Biology from the College of Wooster in May 2010, where I completed my undergraduate thesis studying the impacts of predatory stress on the evolution of body size and coloration in tropical stream fishes of Tobago. Upon graduation, I sought a position in Dr. Stepien’s laboratory in order to further my understanding of fisheries and population genetics. My thesis research project focuses on the use of fine-scale nuclear microsatellite variation to understand the spatial patterns of yellow perch stock structure in Lake Erie, as well as how consistent these patterns are over time.

 

Past Researchers