Diana Rennison

Dr. Diana Rennison is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology, Behavior & Evolution at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). She leads the Rennison Lab within the School of Biological Sciences, focusing on mechanisms driving biodiversity through evolutionary and ecological processes. Her work integrates population genomics, field studies, and experimental approaches to study adaptation in threespine stickleback and other organisms.

Rennison holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia, where she studied predation-driven adaptation in stickleback. She completed a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship at the University of Bern, investigating parallel genomic differentiation. Since joining UCSD in 2019, she has established a research group exploring visual system evolution, eco-evolutionary genomics, and the role of biotic interactions in diversification.

Her research interests emphasize understanding how natural and sexual selection shape evolutionary trajectories, particularly in spectral environments and predator-prey dynamics. Key themes include genomic constraints, microbiota-ecotype associations, and the genetic basis of parallel adaptations. Recent projects highlight the role of haploblocks in climate adaptation and the influence of host ecology on microbial diversity.

Lab & Collaborations: The Rennison Lab collaborates widely, leveraging genomic tools and ecological experiments. They emphasize reproducible research and interdisciplinary methods. Current availability for PhD rotations is listed for 2025–2026, though slots are currently closed for all rotation periods.