Research topics: Microevolution, aquatic ecology, population and conservation genetics; fish ecology (including salmonids)
Research program: Research in my lab generally involves evolution of populations in the wild, often with an emphasis on evolution over contemporary time scales and its implications for population colonization, adaptation and broader scales of diversity. This work has incorporated aspects of population ecology and genetics, morphometrics, physiology and behavior. I believe that evolutionary biology has the potential to become increasingly applied, a goal that does not mean it must sacrifice theoretical development. Indeed, applied evolutionary biology stands not only to provide practical conservation tools, but also to focus evolutionary work on more realistic conceptualizations of natural patterns and processes. Because of this view, my research has ranged from theoretical and experimental studies of rapid evolution to conservation genetics of fish populations. While I have traditionally dealt with populations of salmonid fishes, species of considerable economic and social concern, I am also interested in similar lines of investigation involving other taxa.
Selected Publications
Kinnison, M.T., P. Bentzen, M.J. Unwin and T.P. Quinn. 2002. Reconstructing recent divergence: evaluating non-equilibrium population structure in New Zealand chinook salmon. Molecular Ecology. In Press
Kinnison, M.T. and A.P. Hendry. 2001. The pace of modern life II: from rates of contemporary microevolution to pattern and process. Genetica. 112-113: 145-164.
Quinn, T.P., M.T. Kinnison and M.J. Unwin. 2001. Evolution of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) populations in New Zealand: Pattern, Rate and Process. Genetica. 112-113: 493-513.
Pascual, M., P. Bentzen, C.R. Rossi, G. Mackey, M.T. Kinnison and R. Walker. 2001. First documented case of anadromy in a population of introduced rainbow trout in Patagonia, Argentina. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 130:53-67.
Kinnison, M.T., M.J. Unwin, A.P. Hendry and T.P. Quinn. 2001. Migratory costs and the evolution of egg size and number in introduced and indigenous salmon populations. Evolution 55:1656-1667.
Quinn, T.P., M.J. Unwin and M.T. Kinnison. 2000. Evolution of temporal isolation in the wild: genetic divergence in timing of migration and breeding by introduced chinook salmon populations. Evolution. 54:1372-1385.
Other publications from this laboratory