Anja Marie Westram
Forsker
Fakultet for biovitenskap og akvakultur
Kompetanseområder
Biodiversity
I am an evolutionary biologist studying processes generating biological diversity €“ adaptation and speciation €“ and particularly their genomic basis and spatial patterns. I obtained my PhD from Eawag / ETH Zürich in Switzerland, and went on to be a postdoc at the University of Sheffield (UK) and the Institute of Science and Technology (ISTA) in Austria. I am currently a researcher at Nord University.
I use the marine snail Littorina saxatilis as a model system. L. saxatilis occurs on rocky shores and shows adaptation to its local environment on remarkably small scales. For example, large, thick-shelled snails (adapted to crab predation) occur only meters away from small thin-shelled snails (adapted to wave exposure). What mechanisms and processes drive such adaptations? And how can new species emerge from such locally adapted populations? These are the main questions driving my research. My team and I combine field surveys, morphological, physiological and behavioural phenotyping, analyses of various genomic data sets, and computer simulations / theory to address them.
Our current project investigates the genomic basis of temperature adaptation in L. saxatilis. Understanding how animals can adapt to different temperature regimes is crucial in times of anthropogenic climate change. L. saxatilis experiences both very small-scale temperature gradients (along the height of individual rocks) and large-scale latitudinal temperature change (across its distribution range from northern Norway to Portugal). Using experiments, lab crosses and genomic datasets, we aim to find the genomic regions that enable temperature adaptation and to compare different locations and geographical scales.
I am currently (co)supervising a team of two PhD students, one intern and one postdoc at Nord University and ISTA. At Nord University, we are part of the Landscape Genomics Group.
I am also active in several volunteer groups aiming to reduce the environmental impact of research and communicating aspects of the climate crisis to scientists and non-scientists.
Projects
At the Landscape Genomics Group, we study the evolutionary ecology and population genetics of various species across large and ecologically diverse landscapes. For an overview of research projects, check our webpage.
Publications
Google Scholar
2024
The genetic basis of a recent transition to live-bearing in marine snails 2024, Science: Volum 383 s. 114-119;Stankowski, Sean; Zagrodzka, Zuzanna B.; Garlovsky, Martin D.; Pal, Arka; Shipilina, Daria; Castillo, Diego Garcia
2023
How chromosomal inversions reorient the evolutionary process 2023, Journal of Evolutionary Biology: s. 1-22;Berdan, Emma L.; Barton, Nicholas H.; Butlin, Roger; Charlesworth, Brian; Faria, Rui; Fragata, Inês
The Impact of Chromosomal Rearrangements in Speciation: From Micro-to Macroevolution 2023, Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology: Volum 15;Lucek, Kay; Giménez, Mabel D.; Joron, Mathieu; Rafajlović, Marina; Searle, Jeremy B.; Walden, Nora
Whole-genome phylogeography of the intertidal snail Littorina saxatilis 2023, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society:;Stankowski, Sean; Zagrodzka, Zuzanna B.; Galindo, Juan; Montaño-Rendón, Mauricio; Faria, Rui; Mikhailova, Natalia
2022
What is reproductive isolation? 2022, Journal of Evolutionary Biology: Volum 35 s. 1143-1164;Westram, Anja Marie; Stankowski, Sean; Surendranadh, Parvathy; Barton, Nick
Genetic architecture of repeated phenotypic divergence in Littorina saxatilis ecotype evolution 2022, Evolution:;Koch, Eva L.; Ravinet, Mark; Westram, Anja Marie; Johannesson, Kerstin; Butlin, Roger K.
Very short mountings are enough for sperm transfer in Littorina saxatilis 2022, Journal of molluscan studies: Volum 88;Perini, Samuel; Butlin, Roger K.; Westram, Anja Marie; Johannesson, Kerstin
Parthenogenesis in Darevskia lizards: A rare outcome of common hybridization, not a common outcome of rare hybridization 2022, Evolution: Volum 76 s. 899-914;Freitas, Susana; Westram, Anja Marie; Schwander, Tanja; Arakelyan, Marine; Ilgaz, Çetin; Kumlutas, Yusuf
Inversions and parallel evolution 2022, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences: Volum 377;Westram, Anja Marie; Faria, Rui; Johannesson, Kerstin; Butlin, Roger; Barton, Nick
Ten years of demographic modelling of divergence and speciation in the sea 2022, Evolutionary Applications: s. 1-18;De Jode, Aurelien; Le Moan, Alan; Johannesson, Kerstin; Faria, Rui; Stankowski, Sean; Westram, Anja Marie
Reproductive isolation, speciation, and the value of disagreement: A reply to the commentaries on ‘What is reproductive isolation?’ 2022, Journal of Evolutionary Biology: Volum 35 s. 1200-1205;Westram, Anja Marie; Stankowski, Sean; Surendranadh, Parvathy; Barton, Nicholas H.
Differing associations between sex determination and sex-linked inversions in two ecotypes of Littorina saxatilis 2022, Evolution Letters: Volum 6 s. 358-374;Hearn, Katherine E.; Koch, Eva L.; Stankowski, Sean; Butlin, Roger K.; Faria, Rui; Johannesson, Kerstin
2021
Unboxing mutations: Connecting mutation types with evolutionary consequences 2021, Molecular Ecology: Volum 30 s. 2710-2723;Berdan, Emma L.; Blanckaert, Alexandre; Slotte, Tanja; Suh, Alexander; Westram, Anja Marie; Fragata, Inês
Genetic variation for adaptive traits is associated with polymorphic inversions in Littorina saxatilis 2021, Evolution Letters: Volum 5 s. 196-213;Koch, Eva; Morales, Hernan E; Larsson, Jenny; Westram, Anja Marie; Faria, Rui; Lemmon, Alan R
Using replicate hybrid zones to understand the genomic basis of adaptive divergence 2021, Molecular Ecology: Volum 30 s. 3797-3814;Westram, Anja Marie; Faria, Rui; Johannesson, Kerstin; Butlin, Roger K.
2022
Professor Kerstin Johannesson–winner of the 2022 Molecular Ecology Prize 2022, Molecular Ecology:;Westram, Anja Marie; Butlin, Roger
2021
Hybrid zones eLS 2021, John Wiley & Sons:;Stankowski, Sean; Shipilina, Daria; Westram, Anja Marie