Jocelyn Colella

Curator - Mammalogy

Contact Info

colella@ku.edu

Biography —

Dr. Jocelyn P. Colella is an evolutionary biologist interested in the genomics of adaptation and hybridization among mammals. View her lab's webpage

Research —

Jocelyn P. Colella is an evolutionary biologist interested in genomic mechanisms of adaptation and hybridization among mammals, with an acute interest in biodiversity conservation. Dr. Colella completed her graduate education at the University of New Mexico, where she was classically trained in scientific collecting and curation at the Museum of Southwestern Biology. Her dissertation research focused on the evolutionary and conservation consequences of post-glacial secondary contact and hybridization among high-latitude mustelids. Her postdoctoral research at the University of New Hampshire aimed to identify genomic mechanisms of dehydration-tolerance in desert adapted rodents by pairing fieldwork with in-lab physiological experiments to characterize complex mammalian responses to their environment. Dr. Colella’s current research program utilizes museum collections (both old and new) to understand how organisms change through time by integrating genomics, morphometrics, physiology, and ecology.

Selected Publications —

Colella JP, A Tigano, MD MacManes. (2020) Higher quality de novo genome assemblies from degraded tissue samples: a linked-read approach to museomics. Molecular Ecology Resources, 20(4): 856-870.

Tigano A, JP Colella, MD MacManes. (2020) Comparative and population genomics approaches reveal the basis of adaptation to deserts in a small rodent. Molecular Ecology, 29(7), 1300-1314

Colella JP, SL Talbot, C Brochmann, EP Hoberg, EB Taylor, JA Cook. (2019) Conservation Genomics in a changing Arctic. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 35(2): 149-162.

Colella JP, RE Wilson, SL Talbot, JA Cook (2018) Implications of introgression for wildlife translocations: the case of North American martens. Conservation Genetics 20(2): 153–166.

Colella JP, EJ Johnson, JA Cook. (2018) Reconciling molecules and morphology in North American Martes. Journal of Mammalogy 99(6): 1323–1335.

Colella JP, TY Lan, SC Schuster, SL Talbot, JA Cook C Lindqvist. (2018) Whole-genome analysis of Mustela erminea finds that pulsed hybridization impact evolution at high-latitudes. Nature Communications Biology 1(1):51.

Burgin, CJ*, JP Colella*, PL Kahn, NS Upham. (2018) How many species of mammals are there? Journal of Mammalogy 99(1):287–297. Featured article.

Dawson, NG, JP Colella, MP Small, KD Stone, SL Talbot, JA Cook. (2017) Historical biogeography sets the foundation for contemporary conservation priorities for mesocarnivores (genus Martes) of Pacific Northwest. Journal of Mammalogy 98(3):715–730.

Cook, JA, K Galbreath, K Bell, M Campbell, S Carriere, JP Colella, et al. (2016) The Beringian Coevolution Project: Holistic collections of mammals and associated parasites reveal novel perspectives on Evolutionary and Environmental change in the North. Arctic Science (Arctic Museum Collections – Special Issue) 3:585–617.

Cook, JA, B McLean, D Jackson, JP Colella, S Greiman, V Tkach, T Jung, J Dunnum (2016) First record of the Holarctic Least Shrew (Sorex minutissimus) and associated helminths from Canada: New light on Northern Pleistocene Refugia. Canadian J. of Zoology, 94:367–372.

McLean B, KC Bell, B Abrahamson, JP Colella, AK Jones, J Weber, JA Cook (2015) Natural history collections-based research: progress, promise and best practices. Journal of Mammalogy, 97:287–297.