Dissertation Research: Growth Rate Variation: Sources and Fitness Consequences

9520694阿诺德研究将关注个体的生长速度如何影响其成熟年龄、寿命和后代的生存。研究人员还将研究生长成本、与个体寿命、后代健康相关的成本，以及环境和遗传对线虫种群间和种群内变异的影响。将采用三种方法：自然实验、实验室实验和数学建模。最终，这些研究问题的答案将有助于理解环境如何与个体的基因组成相结合，从而塑造其生长、成熟和生存。

9520694 Arnold Research will focus on how an individual's growth rate affects its age of maturation, its longevity and its offspring's survival. The investigators will also examine the costs to growth, costs associated with an individual's lifespan, the health of its offspring, and the environmental and genetic influences on variation among and within populations of Thamonophis elegans. Three approaches will be used: experiments in nature, experiments in the laboratory, and mathematical modeling. Ultimately, the answers to these research questions will contribute to an understanding of how the environment combines with an individual's genetic makeup to shape its growth, maturation, ald survival.