Colella Lab

The Colella Lab investigates all aspects of mammalian evolution, spanning systematics, genomics, morphology, and biogeography, with a focus on molecular evolution and mechanisms of adaptation.

The Colella Lab uses mammals as models to understand change through time, and has three areas of interest:

Hybridization across complex landscapes

Hybridization is ubiquitous in mammals, but the evolutionary consequences of this process on diversity, speciation, and adaptation are only beginning to be explored. The Colella lab uses molecular and computational tools to understand outcomes of hybridization in mammals and the role of hybridization in shaping diversity.

Adaptation to extreme environments

How do mammals survive in extreme environments, such as hot-deserts, high-arctic, subterranean, marine? What genotypes and phenotypes facilitate these adaptations, how have they evolved, and on what timescales? The Colella Lab combines genomics, physiological, and morphometric techniques to better understand rates and mechanisms of adaptation in wild mammals. 

Linked evolution of parasites, pathogens, and (mammalian) hosts

Biogeographic processes and anthropogenic disturbance affect mammalian evolution, but also that of their parasites and pathogens. Evolutionary histories of parasites and pathogens provide an additional window into the sequence, rate, and pattern of mammalian evolution and can be leveraged to anticipate zoonotic transmission.

For more details visit the Colella Lab Website.

I am currently recruiting motivated, hard-working students to join our lab. Prospective students should read some recent papers from the lab to see if our research matches their interests. If what you see in those papers piques your interest, then email me detailing your research interests and why you would like to join my lab. Please include a CV and brief description of your experience and interests. Additionally, indicate if you are interested in joining the lab as a PhD or MS student. Although my research currently focuses in the American West, students are not restricted to this geographic location and are encouraged to develop their own ideas.

Considering the type of work we do, the following skills/abilities/interests are particularly important for success in our research field:

  • Self-motivation
  • Mammal specimen preparation
  • Foreign field work
  • Quantitative analysis
  • Basic scripting (python, Bash, Linux, R etc.)
  • Drive to ask questions about evolutionary biology

For more details visit the Colella Lab Website.

2022

DM Blumstein, JP Colella, E Linder, MD MacManes. (2022). High total water loss driven by low fat diet in desert adapted mice. In Review: Journal of Experimental Biology. 

2021

Colella JP*, RB Stephens, ML Campbell, BA Kohli, DJ Parsons, BS McLean. (2020). The Open-Specimen Movement. BioScience, 71(4), 405-414. (The Open Specimen Movement [PDF])

     **Media Coverage: Museum specimens could help fight the next pandemic – why preserving collections is crucial to future scientific discoveries (The Conversation), Biodiversity Collections, Vital For Pandemic Preparedness, Face Drop in Specimen Deposits (KU Today), High Impact Research by BioScience



​Colella JP*, TY Lan, C Lindqvist, SL Talbot, JA Cook. (2021). Whole-genome resequencing reveals persistence of forest-associated mammals in Late Pleistocene refugia along North America's North Pacific Coast. Journal of Biogeography, 48(5): 1153-1169. (https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14068)

     **Media Coverage: JBI Early Investigators blog



​Colella JP*, J Bates, SF Burneo, MA Camacho, CA Carrion Bonilla, I Constable, G D'Elía, JL Dunnum, S Greiman, EP Hoberg, E Lessa, SW Liphardt, M Londoño-Gaviria, E Losos, H Lutz, N Ordóñez Garza, AT Peterson, ML Martin, CC Ribas, B Stuminger, F Torres-Pérez, CW Thompson, M Weksler, JA Cook. (2021). Leveraging natural history biorepositories as a global, decentralized, pathogen surveillance network. PLoS Pathogens, 17(6): e1009583. (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009583)



Colella JP*, A Tigano, O Dudchenko, AD Omer, R Khan, ID Bochkov, EL Aiden, MD MacManes*. (2021) Limited evidence for parallel evolution among desert adapted Peromyscus deer mice. Journal of Heredity: esab009. (https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esab009)

     **Media Coverage: More Than One Way for Animals to Survive Climate Change [UNH Newsroom]



Colella JP*, DM Blumstein, MD MacManes. (2021). Disentangling environmental drivers of circadian metabolism in desert-adapted mice. Journal of Experimental Biology​: 224(18), jeb242529. (DOI 10.1242/jeb.242529)



Colella JP*, LM Frederick, SL Talbot, JA Cook. (2021) Extrinsically reinforced hybrid speciation within Holarctic ermine (Mustela spp.) produces an insular endemic. Diversity & Distributions, 27(4): 747-762. (https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13234)

     **Media coverage: New ermine species found on Southeast Alaska island [CBC News Canada], Distinct ermine species identified in Southeast Alaska [KTVF] 

For more publications, see Dr. Jocelyn Colella's Google Scholar page. 



​

The Colella Lab uses mammals as models to understand change through time, and has three areas of interest:

Hybridization across complex landscapes

Hybridization is ubiquitous in mammals, but the evolutionary consequences of this process on diversity, speciation, and adaptation are only beginning to be explored. The Colella lab uses molecular and computational tools to understand outcomes of hybridization in mammals and the role of hybridization in shaping diversity.

Adaptation to extreme environments

How do mammals survive in extreme environments, such as hot-deserts, high-arctic, subterranean, marine? What genotypes and phenotypes facilitate these adaptations, how have they evolved, and on what timescales? The Colella Lab combines genomics, physiological, and morphometric techniques to better understand rates and mechanisms of adaptation in wild mammals. 

Linked evolution of parasites, pathogens, and (mammalian) hosts

Biogeographic processes and anthropogenic disturbance affect mammalian evolution, but also that of their parasites and pathogens. Evolutionary histories of parasites and pathogens provide an additional window into the sequence, rate, and pattern of mammalian evolution and can be leveraged to anticipate zoonotic transmission.

For more details visit the Colella Lab Website.

I am currently recruiting motivated, hard-working students to join our lab. Prospective students should read some recent papers from the lab to see if our research matches their interests. If what you see in those papers piques your interest, then email me detailing your research interests and why you would like to join my lab. Please include a CV and brief description of your experience and interests. Additionally, indicate if you are interested in joining the lab as a PhD or MS student. Although my research currently focuses in the American West, students are not restricted to this geographic location and are encouraged to develop their own ideas.

Considering the type of work we do, the following skills/abilities/interests are particularly important for success in our research field:

  • Self-motivation
  • Mammal specimen preparation
  • Foreign field work
  • Quantitative analysis
  • Basic scripting (python, Bash, Linux, R etc.)
  • Drive to ask questions about evolutionary biology

For more details visit the Colella Lab Website.

2022

DM Blumstein, JP Colella, E Linder, MD MacManes. (2022). High total water loss driven by low fat diet in desert adapted mice. In Review: Journal of Experimental Biology. 

2021

Colella JP*, RB Stephens, ML Campbell, BA Kohli, DJ Parsons, BS McLean. (2020). The Open-Specimen Movement. BioScience, 71(4), 405-414. (The Open Specimen Movement [PDF])

     **Media Coverage: Museum specimens could help fight the next pandemic – why preserving collections is crucial to future scientific discoveries (The Conversation), Biodiversity Collections, Vital For Pandemic Preparedness, Face Drop in Specimen Deposits (KU Today), High Impact Research by BioScience



​Colella JP*, TY Lan, C Lindqvist, SL Talbot, JA Cook. (2021). Whole-genome resequencing reveals persistence of forest-associated mammals in Late Pleistocene refugia along North America's North Pacific Coast. Journal of Biogeography, 48(5): 1153-1169. (https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14068)

     **Media Coverage: JBI Early Investigators blog



​Colella JP*, J Bates, SF Burneo, MA Camacho, CA Carrion Bonilla, I Constable, G D'Elía, JL Dunnum, S Greiman, EP Hoberg, E Lessa, SW Liphardt, M Londoño-Gaviria, E Losos, H Lutz, N Ordóñez Garza, AT Peterson, ML Martin, CC Ribas, B Stuminger, F Torres-Pérez, CW Thompson, M Weksler, JA Cook. (2021). Leveraging natural history biorepositories as a global, decentralized, pathogen surveillance network. PLoS Pathogens, 17(6): e1009583. (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009583)



Colella JP*, A Tigano, O Dudchenko, AD Omer, R Khan, ID Bochkov, EL Aiden, MD MacManes*. (2021) Limited evidence for parallel evolution among desert adapted Peromyscus deer mice. Journal of Heredity: esab009. (https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esab009)

     **Media Coverage: More Than One Way for Animals to Survive Climate Change [UNH Newsroom]



Colella JP*, DM Blumstein, MD MacManes. (2021). Disentangling environmental drivers of circadian metabolism in desert-adapted mice. Journal of Experimental Biology​: 224(18), jeb242529. (DOI 10.1242/jeb.242529)



Colella JP*, LM Frederick, SL Talbot, JA Cook. (2021) Extrinsically reinforced hybrid speciation within Holarctic ermine (Mustela spp.) produces an insular endemic. Diversity & Distributions, 27(4): 747-762. (https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13234)

     **Media coverage: New ermine species found on Southeast Alaska island [CBC News Canada], Distinct ermine species identified in Southeast Alaska [KTVF] 

For more publications, see Dr. Jocelyn Colella's Google Scholar page. 



​