معرفی
Kirk Edward Lohmueller is a Professor in both the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Human Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research focuses on evolutionary genetics, population genetics, and conservation genomics, with a particular emphasis on understanding how natural selection, demographic history, and genetic variation shape biological systems. He applies computational and statistical methods to analyze genomic data from diverse species, including humans, canids, whales, and endangered populations.
Research interests include: (1) the distribution and fitness effects of mutations, (2) the role of deleterious variation in population viability, (3) genomic signatures of adaptive introgression, and (4) conservation genetics of endangered species. Key contributions include studies on inbreeding depression in Isle Royale wolves, genomic analyses of fin whale populations impacted by whaling, and the evolutionary consequences of domestication in canids.
- Publications highlight work on fitness effects of noncoding mutations, phylogenetic comparisons of fitness variation across animals, and computational tools for genome simulation.
- Collaborations with conservation biologists address genetic threats to isolated populations (e.g., caracals, vaquitas).
- Developed methods to infer selection and demographic histories using genomic data.
His work bridges theoretical population genetics with applied conservation challenges, leveraging large-scale genomic datasets to address fundamental questions in evolutionary biology and inform conservation strategies.
