Difference between revisions of "Jonathan Velotta"

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Revision as of 22:27, 29 July 2010

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Contact Information

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut
75 North Eagleville Road
Storrs, CT 06269

Office: Pharmacy/Biology 210
Phone: 860-486-4694
E-mail: jonathan.velotta@uconn.edu


About Me

I am currently a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut, working under the care and guidance of Dr. Eric Schultz.

My research interests are broad, but my work centers around the physiological, molecular and evolutionary ecology of fishes

I'm also on Facebook


Education

Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
2008-present
University of Connecticut, Storrs CT

B.S. Biology
2003-2007
Fairfield University
Research Experience: (1) The role of testosterone in male rat sexual behavior, with Dr. Shannon Harding. (2) Avian stress physiology, with Dr. Brian Walker.


Dissertation Research

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My dissertation research focuses on answering questions regarding the osmoregulatory system in bony fishes, that is, the set of physiological mechanisms by which water and ion homoestasis is maintained. Specifically, I am investigating both the micro-evolution and the ontogeny of the osmoregulatory system in an anadromous shad known as the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)

The reason I have chosen to study alewives is because of their interesting life history. Most alewives are anadromous - adults inhabit the open ocean and return yearly to small, freshwater systems to spawn. In addition, multiple populations of alewives have been independently restricted to freshwater systems year-round - a phenomenon known as land-locking. Land-locking in alewives provides a unique opportunity to investigate the specific physiological and molecular adaptations made by fish when they transition from living in seawater to specializing in freshwater - environments that require drastically different methods of osmoregulating. Not only does this represent a significant gap in our knowledge of osmoregulatory physiology, but changes to this system that permitted organisms to specialize in FW represent major evolutionary transitions

My research focuses mainly on the osmoregulatory processes of the gills, since gills are the main site of ion exchange in fish. My endpoints of interest include survival, plasma osmolality, ion transporter activity, gene expression and transcriptome modifications after prolonged periods of salinity challenge


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Gill arch from an adult alewife