My research program focuses on the effects of anthropogenic stressors on avian wildlife and other predators to monitor broad-scale environmental change. My lab conducts field research in temperate and Arctic ecosystems to examine the impacts of climate change on avian fitness via (1) the indirect effects of environmental variation on (1) prey type, quality, and quantity; and (2) energetics and behaviour; (3) the direct effects of warming temperatures on physiological traits associated with heat stress; and (4) the cumulative effects of multiple stressors including contaminants.

My research program focuses on the effects of anthropogenic stressors on avian wildlife and other predators to monitor broad-scale environmental change. My lab conducts field research in temperate and Arctic ecosystems to examine the impacts of climate change on avian fitness via (1) the indirect effects of environmental variation on (1) prey type, quality, and quantity; and (2) energetics and behaviour; (3) the direct effects of warming temperatures on physiological traits associated with heat stress; and (4) the cumulative effects of multiple stressors including contaminants.

The Little Lab explores physiological mechanisms to understand the eco-evolutionary costs of change. Many animals can remodel their physiology within their lifetimes to compensate for changing environments. This plasticity represents the best defense animals have against climate change, but potential costs and trade-offs have been difficult to identify. The Little Lab uses an integrative approach to uncover proximate mechanisms for plasticity, allowing us to make and test predictions about its contextual costs.

The Little Lab explores physiological mechanisms to understand the eco-evolutionary costs of change. Many animals can remodel their physiology within their lifetimes to compensate for changing environments. This plasticity represents the best defense animals have against climate change, but potential costs and trade-offs have been difficult to identify. The Little Lab uses an integrative approach to uncover proximate mechanisms for plasticity, allowing us to make and test predictions about its contextual costs.

My research focuses on the ontogeny, phenotypic plasticity and evolution of muscle metabolism – important for locomotion, thermogenesis, and whole-body metabolic homeostasis. I use mechanistic and evolutionary physiology approaches, and take advantage of “experiments in nature” by studying species that thrive in extreme environments such as high altitude. I do applied research on the impacts of changing temperature, low oxygen, and pollution on the physiology of fishes.

My research focuses on the ontogeny, phenotypic plasticity and evolution of muscle metabolism – important for locomotion, thermogenesis, and whole-body metabolic homeostasis. I use mechanistic and evolutionary physiology approaches, and take advantage of “experiments in nature” by studying species that thrive in extreme environments such as high altitude. I do applied research on the impacts of changing temperature, low oxygen, and pollution on the physiology of fishes.

My lab strives to understand the integrative mechanisms (from molecule to organism) for how vertebrate animals tolerate and perform in challenging physical environments. We are interested in the physiological, cellular, and genomic bases of adaptation and acclimatization, particularly in response to hypoxia and/or temperature change. Physiological systems important for respiration and exercise are emphasized.

My lab strives to understand the integrative mechanisms (from molecule to organism) for how vertebrate animals tolerate and perform in challenging physical environments. We are interested in the physiological, cellular, and genomic bases of adaptation and acclimatization, particularly in response to hypoxia and/or temperature change. Physiological systems important for respiration and exercise are emphasized.

The Wilson laboratory studies the impacts of environmental stressors on aquatic organisms, with a strong emphasis on aquatic toxicology research. Our research intersects environmental physiology, ecology and evolution, and bioinformatics and functional genomics. Our basic research program focuses on the evolution, regulation and function of cytochrome P450 enzymes; enzymes that are critical for xenobiotic metabolism and steroid production. Cytochrome P450 enzymes are an important superfamily involved in chemical defense. Our environmental physiology research examines the impacts of contaminants (e.g. human drugs, metals, complex effluents), temperature, and low dose radiation. We are particularly interested in the effects on development, growth, and reproduction. The biological approaches used in the lab are quite diverse and include gene expression, histology, protein assays (e.g. enzyme activity, steroid levels), morphometrics, growth, and behaviour. Likewise, our species of interest are diverse. Our primary fish model species are zebrafish and rainbow trout but we include important native species such as lake whitefish, round whitefish, and Arctic charr. For invertebrate systems, we use the brown and green hydra, both freshwater Cnidarian species, and a marine annelid Capitella telata.

The Wilson laboratory studies the impacts of environmental stressors on aquatic organisms, with a strong emphasis on aquatic toxicology research. Our research intersects environmental physiology, ecology and evolution, and bioinformatics and functional genomics. Our basic research program focuses on the evolution, regulation and function of cytochrome P450 enzymes; enzymes that are critical for xenobiotic metabolism and steroid production. Cytochrome P450 enzymes are an important superfamily involved in chemical defense. Our environmental physiology research examines the impacts of contaminants (e.g. human drugs, metals, complex effluents), temperature, and low dose radiation. We are particularly interested in the effects on development, growth, and reproduction. The biological approaches used in the lab are quite diverse and include gene expression, histology, protein assays (e.g. enzyme activity, steroid levels), morphometrics, growth, and behaviour. Likewise, our species of interest are diverse. Our primary fish model species are zebrafish and rainbow trout but we include important native species such as lake whitefish, round whitefish, and Arctic charr. For invertebrate systems, we use the brown and green hydra, both freshwater Cnidarian species, and a marine annelid Capitella telata.