International Research Fellow Awards: Divergent Sexual Selection in Sticklebacks; Testing Benefits and Costs of Condition Dependent Handicaps in Two Populations

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9901202 Boughman The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research aboard. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions aboard. This award will provide Dr. Janette W. Boughman with support for twelve months to work with Dr. Dolph Schluter at the University of British Columbia's Department of Zoology. Dr. Boughman will study the divergent sexual selection of Stickleback fish, testing costs and benefits of condition dependent handicaps in two populations. The signals used to select mates can be influenced by the local environment, possibly leading to divergence. This work will describe and compare reproductive benefits and viability costs of signalling in two light environments. These results are important to the understanding of speciation (reproductive isolation). The host, Dr. Schluter, is renowned for his work measuring selection in natural populations and identifying the selective forces shaping morphology and behavior.***