Ph.D. 2007 Yale University

My research focuses on interactions between ecology and evolution in nature. Specifically, I am interested in how evolution at the population level shapes communities and ecosystems and how these ecological changes feed back to shape the trajectory of evolution. My current focus is primarily on freshwater systems, including temperate lakes and tropical streams. I am also interested in how eco-evolutionary dynamics operate on islands and other isolated ecosystems. Because my research is at the interface of ecology and evolution, I utilize a diversity of techniques and approaches from both disciplines. In particular, I combine surveys of ecological, genetic, and phenotypic variation in nature with field and laboratory experiments to test the mechanisms underlying the observed patterns. My overall goal is to gain a greater understanding of the processes that simultaneously shape ecological and evolutionary diversity in nature for addressing both basic and applied questions.

Palkovacs, E.P. & D.M. Post. 2009. Experimental evidence that phenotypic divergence in predators drives community divergence in prey. Ecology 90:300-305.

Palkovacs, E.P., M.C. Marshall, B.A. Lamphere, B.R. Lynch, D.J. Weese, D.F Fraser, D.N. Reznick, C.M. Pringle & M.T. Kinnison. 2009. Experimental evaluation of evolution and coevolution as agents of ecosystem change in Trinidadian streams. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364:1617-1628.

Post, D.M. & E.P. Palkovacs. 2009. Eco-evolutionary feedbacks in community and ecosystem ecology: interactions between the ecological theatre and the evolutionary play. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364:1629-1640.

Palkovacs, E.P. & D.M. Post.  2008.  Eco-evolutionary interactions between predators and prey:  can predator-induced changes to prey communities feed back to shape predator foraging traits? Evolutionary Ecology Research 10:699-720

Post, D.M., E.P. Palkovacs, E.G. Schielke & S.I. Dodson.  2008.  Intraspecific variation in a predator affects community structure and cascading trophic interactions. Ecology 86:2019-2032.

Palkovacs, E.P., K.B. Dion, D.M. Post & A. Caccone.  2008.  Independent evolutionary origins of landlocked alewife populations and rapid parallel evolution of phenotypic traits. Molecular Ecology 17:582-597.

Russell, A.L., J. Ranivo, E.P. Palkovacs, S.M. Goodman & A.D. Yoder. 2007. Working at the interface of phylogenetics and population genetics: a biogeographic analysis of Triaenops spp. (Chiroptera:Hipposideridae). Molecular Ecology 16:839-851

Karanth, K.P., E. Palkovacs, J. Gerlach, S. Glaberman, J.P. Hume, A. Caccone & A.D. Yoder. 2005. Native Seychelles tortoises or Aldabran imports? The importance of radiocarbon dating for ancient DNA studies. Amphibia-Reptilia 26:116-121

Palkovacs, E.P., A.J. Oppenheimer, E. Gladyshev, J.E. Toepfer, G. Amato, T. Chase & A. Caccone. 2004. Genetic evaluation of a proposed introduction: the case of the greater prairie chicken and the extinct heath hen. Molecular Ecology 13:1759-1769.

Palkovacs, E.P. 2003. Explaining adaptive shifts in body size on islands: a life history approach. Oikos 103:37-44

Palkovacs, E.P., M. Marschner, C. Ciofi, J. Gerlach & A. Caccone. 2003. Are the native giant tortoises from the Seychelles really extinct?  A genetic perspective based on mtDNA and microsatellite data. Molecular Ecology 12:1403-1413.

Palkovacs, E.P., J. Gerlach & A. Caccone. 2002. The evolutionary origin of Indian Ocean tortoises (Dipsochelys). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 24:216-227.