Laura Weir
Laura Weir, PhD
B.Sc. (Hons) Concordia University
M.Sc. Dalhousie University
Ph.D. Dalhousie University
Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Saint Mary's University
I am interested in the influence of ecology and sexual selection on the evolution and maintenance of mating characteristics in freshwater fishes across different evolutionary scales. Throughout my academic career I have been involved in a broad range of research projects that investigate ecological and evolutionary processes, with an emphasis on the mating behaviour of fishes in both fundamental and applied contexts. My broad research question asks: how does variation in ecological conditions influence the evolution of mating systems and reproductive mode? To address this question, I work with two different groups of fishes: salmonids and a small group of freshwater fishes in the genus Oryzias using laboratory experiments, field studies and molecular techniques. I will be joining the Biology Department at Saint Mary’s in January 2016 and will be teaching courses related to animal biology, including BIOL 4424 Diversity and Ecology of Fishes.