Anja Marie Westram

Forsker
Fakultet for biovitenskap og akvakultur
Studiested
Bodø
Kontor
Bodø, Hovedbygning E262
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.
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
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
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
2021
Hybrid zones eLS 2021, John Wiley & Sons:;Stankowski, Sean; Shipilina, Daria; Westram, Anja Marie