PhD Candidate
jjh359@cornell.edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5493-9134
Research Interests
My research interests in evolutionary biology are wide ranging, but lie primarily in the realm of phylogenetics, speciation, and genome evolution, especially as they apply to mammals. I am curious as to the influence of genome structure on phenotypic diversity, the genetic basis for adaptations, the evolutionary dynamics of karyotypes, and the drivers and consequences of chromosomal rearrangements. My current work focuses on ‘chromosome races’ in house mice Mus musculus domesticus; populations that exhibit variably reduced chromosome numbers due to numerous Robertsonian fusions and whole-arm reciprocal translocations that can still successfully interbreed. What processes generate and fix these rearrangements; what consequences do they have for genome architecture and meiotic development; and what can they tell us about the evolutionary history of these populations?
Brief CV
- 2014 – MSci, Interdisciplinary Science, University of Leicester (Third year of study at McMaster University)
- 2016 – MSc, Biology, McMaster University
- 2016-Present – PhD Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
- Fall 2017-Present – TA for BIOMG 2801
- 2017–2019 BIOMG 2810: Laboratory in Genetics and Genomics
- 2019, 2021 BIOEE 4500/4501: Mammalogy Lecture/Laboratory
- 2019–2020 BIOEE 1780: An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and Diversity
Publications
J. Hughes, J. S. Berv, S. G. B. Chester, E. J. Sargis, D. J. Field. (2021). Ecological selectivity and the evolution of mammalian arboreality across the K–Pg boundary. In press. Ecology and Evolution
L.A. Genova, B. B. Johnson, F. R. Castelli, [and 24 others, including J. J. Hughes] (2020). What is speciation, how does it occur, and why is it important for conservation? CourseSource, 7. [CourseSource]
A.P. Morgan, J. P. Didion, J. J. Hughes, J. B. Searle, W. J. Jolley, K. J. Campbell, D. W. Threadgill, F. P-M. de Villena. (2018). Genetic characterization of invasive house mouse populations on small islands. Biorxiv, 332064. [bioRxiv]
Delsuc, F., Kuch, M., Gibb, G. C., Hughes, J., Szpak, P., Southon, J., Enk, J., Duggan, A. T., & Poinar, H. N., 2018. Resolving the phylogenetic position of Darwin’s extinct ground sloth (Mylodon darwinii) using mitogenomic and nuclear exon data. Proc. R. Soc. B. 285(1878). 10.1098/rspb.2018.0214. [Royal Society]