Andrew Frank

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Andrew caving in the karst of West Virginia
Head scales of Plestidon skiltonianus, illustration by Andrew Frank

Contact Information

Office: BPB 322

Phone: (845) 728-6551

Mailing Address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut
75 N. Eagleville Road Unit 3043
Storrs, CT 06269

Education

PhD Student, University of Connecticut, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 2013-present
Major Advisor: Elizabeth Jockusch

About Me

My initial interest in biology took root in the incredible complexity of the very small. As an undergraduate at American University, I explored changes in morphology in the freshwater amphipod *Gammarus minus* as it invaded cave environments in West Virginia. Caving in the valleys of West Virginia, doing faunal surveys, and collecting amphipods created a passion and sense of discovery for the biological work I was completing.

My amphipod research experience helped me continue my scientific work as an undergraduate at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. There, I worked with Dr. Jon Norenburg in an attempt to differentiate two species of marine Nemertean worms, Lineus ruber and Lineus viridus, using the molecular barcode gene, COI. In addition to giving me the opportunity to work at a prestigious institute, working at the Smithsonian gave me a chance to experience both successes and failures inherent in the scientific process. Working at the Smithsonian also created a burgeoning attraction to molecular systematics, and strongly influenced my desire to pursue graduate work in this field.

In my

Research Interests

I am interested in answering evolutionary questions by leveraging molecular data in novel ways. My current graduate work focuses on three core interests: speciation and population genetics, systematics and taxonomy, and deep-level phylogenetics. Broadly speaking, I am interested in questions about...

  • Causes and identification of non-bifurcating speciation in North American skinks
  • Phenotypic changes in relation to processes of speciation, especially those associated with a transition to a cave-dwelling phenotype
  • Resolving differences between morphological and molecular phylogenies of Squamata

Teaching