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King Lab

Evolutionary Genetics & Genomics

University of Missouri

In the King Lab, we are trying to understand the genetic basis and evolution of organismal allocation patterns. The core life processes for every organism, such as surviving in the environment, finding food and mates, and reproducing, require the organism to allocate some of its limited resources to these functions. Different selective pressures have produced the diversity of strategies that we see within and among species in how and when to allocate resources to different structures and functions. We use both computational and empirical techniques to try to understand both how different allocation strategies evolve and the underlying genetic architecture of this highly complex trait.

Recent Posts

Show-Me Science

Long Overdue Updates: Exciting News for Many Lab Members!

Patricka, Jordyn & Dr. King, Enoch, and Andrew & Dr. King. Many of our lab members have had exciting news over the last year but I …

Lab Members receive COVID vaccinations: Additional updates to our Guidelines

Many members of the King Lab have now been fully vaccinated! The speed with which a highly effective vaccine has been developed and …

Lab Members receive COVID vaccinations: Update to our Guidelines

Many members of the King Lab have now been fully vaccinated! The speed with which a highly effective vaccine has been developed and …

Lab Re-opening in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The University has begun repopulating campus in phases. It is critical that we do so carefully and while doing everything we can to …

Meet the Team

Lab Info

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King Lab

Evolutionary Genetics & Genomics

Principal Investigator

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Elizabeth G. King

Associate Professor

Lab Members

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Camille Oster

Lab Manager

Plant Biology, Alpine Ecosystems, Stress Resistance Phenotypes

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Joe Gunn

Postdoctoral Scholar

Experimental evolution of resource allocation strategies, Multiomics

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Zoe Elkins

PhD Student

Genetics of dispersal, Modeling life history evolution, Science communication

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Victoria Hamlin

PhD Student

Neuroscience, Genetics, Learning and Memory

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Adam Albright

Undergraduate Student

Mechanisms of insect flight, Imaging and CT scanning, Genetics

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Alyssa Fritz

Undergraduate Student

Genetic basis of thermal tolerance

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Chuck Miller

Undergraduate Student

Effects of diet on lifespan, Insulin signaling

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Kayla Robinson

Undergraduate Student

Mechanisms of insect flight, Experimental evolution, Genetics

Lab Alumni

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Elizabeth Jones

Lab Manager

Microbiology, Experimental evolution, Biological control

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Enoch Ng'oma

Postdoctoral Scholar

Experimental evolution of resource allocation strategies, Genetics of lifespan

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Anna Perinchery-Herman

PhD, 2020

Genetics of lipid, carbohydrate, and protein storage, Patterns of phenotypic plasticity in response to diet

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Paul Petrowski

MA, 2019

Developing tools for making inferences from genomic data

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Patrick Stanley

MA, 2016

Genetic basis of diet-dependent IIS gene expression

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Patricka Williams-Simon

PhD, 2021

Genetic basis of learning, memory, and thermal tolerance, Techniques for functional validation of QTL

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Elizabeth Lo Presti

Lab Manager, 2014 - 2015

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Mathangi Ganesan

MA 2020

Effects of diet on learning and memory

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Ronel Ghidey

Undergraduate Student

The role of alternative splicing on thermal tolerance

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Andrew Jones

Undergraduate Student

The effect of early life diet on adult life history phenotypes

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Jordyn Moaton

Undergraduate Student

The evolution of starvation resistance

Publications

See my Google Scholar page for an up-to-date list of the lab's publications.