News

WELCOME BEN, April 2024

Welcome Ben! Ben will be coordinating field work efforts part of the Washington Resurvey of Pierids Project (WARP). We are thrilled to have Ben be apart of the team.

We’re excited to share that Dr. Gwen Shlichta, a valued collaborator for the WARP (Washington Resurvey of Pierids) Project, recently took center stage in an episode of the captivating “Human Elements” series featured on Cascade PBS. The episode highlights the unique aspects of the WARP Project and sheds light on the challenges scientists like Dr. Shlichta face. Watch the episode here.

2024 SICB Annual Meeting

The Buckley Lab group had a remarkable experience at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) Annual Meeting held in Seattle, WA, this year. The week-long event was an opportunity for networking and a platform to delve into cutting-edge scientific discussions and discoveries.

Drs. Lauren Buckley and Monica Sheffer showcased their expertise in the “Global change: Life history evolution” session. Dr. Buckley captivated the audience with her talk, “Insect size responses to climate change vary across elevations and life histories,” Dr. Sheffer explored the intriguing topic of “Montane grasshopper fitness constraints in changing environments.” Julia Smith, a key member and graduate student of our lab, presented a poster titled “Diel thermoregulation in grasshoppers: where to be, when to feed.”

Reflecting on the enriching experience at SICB 2024, The Buckley Lab Group is excited about the possibilities and collaborations that may arise from this conference. The commitment to advancing scientific knowledge and contributing to the global scientific community remains a driving force in our lab.

TrEnCh-ed at the Washington Climate Education Summit, May 2023

Julia and Lauren enjoyed meeting K-12 educators excited to teach climate change and sharing the TrEnCh-ed resources.

WELCOME TAYLOR, April 2023

We’re excited that Taylor is joining the group to coordinate our new butterfly resurvey project. Stay turned for our adventures setting up a farm plot at the Center for Urban Horticulture.

RESEARCH TECHNICIAN: butterfly evolutionary responses to climate change, Jan 2022

We’re recruiting a research technician to manage, coordinate, and conduct research activities for a project repeating historical butterfly research to examine ecological and evolution responses to climate change. See the bottom of our opportunities page for further details.

Undergraduate research opportunity, Jan 2022

We’re recruiting undergrads for some ambitious lab projects for the first time in a while… The UW Biology research group led by Professor Lauren Buckley (https://huckleylab.github.io/) has paid positions open (winter and spring 2023) for UW undergraduate students to contribute to one or both of the following resurvey projects examining insect responses to recent climate change.

Grasshopper resurvey project: The grasshopper resurvey project uses field and lab experiments integrated with genomic and physiological approaches to examine how survival and fecundity constraints influence responses to environmental change. Students will primarily assist with rearing grasshoppers in environmental chambers and with physiological measurements under the mentorship of Dr. Monica Sheffer.

Butterfly resurvey project: The butterfly resurvey project is testing how selection on butterfly traits has shifted in response to recent climate change. Students will primarily assist with rearing butterfly larvae in environmental chambers and in an experimental garden at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture and with physiological measurements under the mentorship of Professors Gwen Shlichta (Edmonds College) and Lauren Buckley.

Students will learn about biological responses to climate change, gain familiarity with a variety of approaches in physiological ecology and evolution, and receive exposure to academic research and related career opportunities. Students may progress to conducting independent research and presenting the research at UW venues and beyond. There may also be opportunities to participate in summer research in Seattle and Central Washington (butterfly resurvey) or in Colorado (grasshopper resurvey).

See our opportunities page for further details.

Assistant Professorship in Integrative Physiology, September 2022

Lauren is chairing the search for an Assistant Professor in Integrative Physiology and excited for a physiologically inclined colleague. Applications due here October 1.

Position description: The University of Washington (UW) Department of Biology is seeking to hire a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor in integrative physiology. A successful candidate would take innovative and collaborative approaches while working in an organismal framework to address integration of physiological processes across 1) biological levels, 2) organisms and ecosystems, and/or 3) ecological or evolutionary timescales. Example topics include physiological responses to environmental change and variability, maintenance of homeostasis, the molecular basis of metabolic adaptation, physiological interactions between organisms, and mechanisms of physiological evolution. In keeping with our department’s broad taxonomic breadth (plants, animals, fungi, microbes), we welcome candidates from a variety of backgrounds.

Farewell Chris, June 2022

Farewell to Chris Johnson who has wrapped up his work on the TrEnCh project and moved on to work with Sabine Rumpft at the University of Basel. Stay tuned for a great paper exploring how well directly applying thermal performance curves predicts fitness responses to climate change relative to a population dynamic model that considers the thermal sensitivity of fitness components. Best wishes to Chris and family!

Off to the CO Mountain Research Station, May 2022

Most of the group is off to CU’s Mountain Research Station to launch a grasshopper reciprocal transplant experiment examining survival and fecundity constraints along an elevation gradient.

Farewell Abby, February 2022

The pandemic delay to Abby starting a fellowship in Greenland is finally over. We’re grateful that the delay allowed Abby to make amazing contributions to our TrEnCh project and are excited to follow Abby’s Greenland adventure.

Welcome Monica, February 2022

We’re excited to welcome Monica as a postdoc to work on the NSF Rules of Life project examining grasshopper fecundity and survival constraints. Up soon for Monica will be orchestrating an ambitious field reciprocal transplant project.