The Clark Lab is hiring post-docs to drive research in convergent evolution and evolutionary genetics. Current projects in the lab study the genetic basis of adaptation to extreme behaviors and environments, such as diving in marine mammals, regressive evolution of eyesight in subterranean species, and adaptations to high-altitude (relevant papers below). These projects require interplay between computation and experiments, involving comparative genomics, chromatin and gene expression analysis, zebrafish embryology, and cell culture. Project extensions into clinical genetics are also underway for congenital eye diseases.
We seek candidates motivated to study evolutionary phenomena and possessing computational genomics and/or wet lab expertise in developmental biology and cell culture. We will consider candidates with experience in both of these areas and at their interface. Post-docs will also have the opportunity to study the evolution of systems of their choice and to participate in the sequencing and annotation of the marsupial mole genome. Applicants should send CV, publications, and letter of interest to nclark@utah.edu .
The Clark lab is located in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah. The Department is home to research in evolutionary genetics, evolution and development, model organism genetics, genomics, disease models, and clinical genetics. The Clark lab is also part of the Cluster in Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics (CEGG) that catalyzes collaboration and instruction between evolution researchers throughout the University. The environment in the lab and surroundings provides ample opportunities for training in related fields in addition to evolutionary genomics.
- Chikina M, Robinson JD, Clark NL. Hundreds of genes experienced convergent shifts in selective pressure in marine mammals. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 2016. 33(9): 2182-2192.
- Partha R, Chauhan BK, Worman-Ferreria Z, Robinson JD, Lathrop K, Nischal KK, Chikina M*, Clark NL*. Subterranean mammals show convergent regression in ocular genes and enhancers, along with adaptation to tunneling. eLife. 2017; 6: e25884.
- Meyer WK, Jamison J, Richter R, Woods SE, Kronk C, Partha R, Kowalczyk A, Chikina M, Bonde RK, Gaspard J, Lanyon JM, Furlong CE, and Clark NL. Ancient convergent losses of Paraoxonase 1 yield deleterious consequences for modern marine mammals. Science. 2018; 361(6402): 591-594.
- Kowalczyk A, Meyer WK, Partha R, Mao W, Clark NL, Chikina M. RERconverge: an R package for associating evolutionary rates with convergent traits. Bioinformatics. 2019; 1-3: btz468.
- RERconverge Package @ GitHub
