Jenny Boughman's web page
 

Department of Zoology	boughman@zoology.ubc.ca
University of British Columbia	(604) 822-5966  (voice)
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4	(604) 822-2416  (fax)

My Research

My principal interest is in the evolution of communication. I've got three major objectives for my work. First, to understand the causes of diversity in communication signals. To address this question I test models of s ignal evolution as explanations for diverse mating signals in sticklebacks. This work has the long-term objective of integrating several important models of sexual selection - sensory drive, condition dependence, and Fisherian runaway. Second, to understa nd the role divergent sexually selected signals play in speciation. Here I test reproductive isolation between species that differ in male mating signals and female preferences. I also characterize visual signals, female preferences, and perception in mul tiple populations. Third, to understand how signal evolution and ecological adaptation interact in generating new species. Sexual selection operates in an ecological context and ecological divergence figures prominently in most models of speciation. Thus, to address the third question I explore the interaction of sexually selected traits and ecological traits in the evolution of reproductive isolation. Sticklebacks from the postglacial lakes of British Columbia are some of the youngest species on earth -- less than 13,000 years old -- so we can watch speciation happen and do experiments to test the evolutionary mechanisms involved.

My other interest -- in cooperation -- arises from our lack of knowledge about the evolutionary mechanisms that favor cooperation among unrelated individuals. With low levels of relatedness, conflict of interest between social partners should be intense, yet many species do cooperate. Why? And how are cheaters prevented from undermining such cooperation? What role does social communication play? My Ph.D. work explored how learned vocalizations facilitate cooperative foraging in greater spear-nosed bats (flashier even than the sticklebacks and very cool).

My interests and training cross levels of organization from neurobiology to behavioral ecology to evolutionary ecology; I integrate these levels in my research to understand how communication systems evolve.
 
  This fall I move to the Zoology Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison .
 
 

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Education
 

Ph.D.   Zoology	University of Maryland	1997
M.A.    Linguistics	University of New Hampshire	1985
B.S.      Biology, magna cum laude	Southampton College	1979

Fellowships & Awards
 

NSF International Research Fellow	Univ of British Columbia	1999-2001
NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow	Univ of British Columbia	1998-1999
NIH-NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow	Univ of Maryland (declined)	1998-2000
NIH Postdoctoral Trainee	Comparative & Evolutionary Biology Hearing	1997-1998
Pelczar Award Nomination	Best Dissertation, Univ of Maryland	1997
Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellow	National Zoological Park	1995-1996
Dissertation Improvement Grant	National Science Foundation	1994-1996
Eugenie Clark Research Fellow	University of Maryland, Dept of Zoology	1995
Best Student Talk	International Bat Research Meeting	1995
Graduate School Fellow	University of Maryland	1990-1992
Summer Teaching Fellow	University of New Hampshire	1983

 In the public eye

Publications

• Boughman, J.W. (in press) How sensory drive can promote speciation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution November 2002.
• Boughman, J.W. (in revision) Estimating natural selection on social traits in greater spear-nosed bats. Behavioral Ecology.
• Boughman, J.W. (2001) Divergent sexual selection enhances reproductive isolation in sticklebacks. Nature 411: 944-948.  pdf - News & Views -
• Schluter, D., Boughman, J.W. & Rundle, H.D. (2001) Parallel speciation with allopatry. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 16: 283. (letter)
• Boughman, J.W. & Moss, C.F. (in press) Social sounds: vocal learning and development of mammal and bird calls. In Megela-Simmons, A., Popper, A.N., & Fay, R. (eds) Acoustic Communication. Springer-Verlag. Handbook of Auditory Research
• Rundle, H.D., Nagel, L.M., Boughman, J.W. & Schluter, D. (2000) Natural selection and parallel speciation in sympatric sticklebacks. Science. 287: 306-308. pdf - News of the Week - Review by Paul Harvey
• Wilkinson, G.S. & Boughman, J.W. (1999) Social influences on foraging in bats. In Box, H.O. & Gibson, K. (eds) Mammalian social Learning: Comparative and Ecological Perspectives. Proceedings of Zoological Society of London 73. pp. 188-204. Abstract
• Boughman, J.W. (1998) Vocal learning by greater spear-nosed bats. Proceedings Royal Society B 265: 227-233. Abstract
• Boughman, J.W. & Wilkinson, G.S. (1998) Greater spear-nosed bats discriminate group mates by vocalizations. Animal Behaviour 55: 1717-1732. Abstract
• Wilkinson, G.S. & Boughman, J.W. (1998) Social calls coordinate foraging in greater spear-nosed bats. Animal Behaviour 55: 337-350. Abstract
• Boughman, J.W. (1997) Greater spear-nosed bats give group distinctive calls. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology 40: 61-70. Abstract - pdf     

BC Parks
Hiking
Traveling through BC
Free stuff in BC's great outdoors

Vancouver Evolution Group
Evolution sites
Animal Behavior Society

Stickleback care
Water stuff in Canada