Sarah Shainker-4.jpg

Sarah Jordan Shainker-Connelly

PhD Candidate in Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Chapter Member: Alabama SSN
Areas of Expertise:

About Sarah

Shainker-Connelly is a PhD Candidate in the Krueger-Hadfield Evolutionary Ecology lab. Her research focuses on the evolutionary ecology of macroalgae in freshwater streams. She uses a combination of genetic and ecological approaches all firmly rooted in natural history to better understand the complex life cycle and reproductive systems of these taxa. With Dr. Krueger-Hadfield and the Alabama Water Watch, she is co-leading a citizen science project to survey freshwater red algae throughout the state of Alabama. Prior to graduate school, Shainker-Connelly served in the U.S. Peace Corps' environmental sector in the Philippines and worked as an environmental educator in Georgia (USA).

In the News

"Ice Age Processes Shape Present-Day Patterns of Kelp Biodiversity," Sarah Jordan Shainker-Connelly, American Genetic Association, February 10, 2021.
"Genes Rolling Down the River," Sarah Jordan Shainker-Connelly, The Molecular Ecologist, June 12, 2020.
"The Endangered Species Act Doesn’t Protect All Habitat Equally," Sarah Jordan Shainker-Connelly, Environmental Science, Envirobites, May 2, 2020.
"Expanding the Conservation “Cool Clique” To Include Freshwater Megafauna," Sarah Jordan Shainker-Connelly, Environmental Science, Envirobites, March 2, 2020.
"Genetic Clues to Bee Conservation," Sarah Jordan Shainker-Connelly, Environmental Science, Envirobites, August 7, 2019.

Publications

"Combining Niche Shift and Population Genetic Analyses Predicts Rapid Phenotypic Evolution During Invasion" (with Erik E. Sotka , Aaron W. Baumgardner, Paige M. Bippus, Christophe Destombe, Elizabeth A. Duermit, Hikaru Endo, Ben A. Flanagan, Mits Kamiya, Lauren E. Lees, Courtney J. Murren, and Masahiro Nakaoka). Evolutionary Applications 11, no. 5 (2018): 781-793.

Combines niche shift and population genetic analyses. Predicts rapid phenotypic evolution during invasion. Uses experimental tests of environmental tolerance combined with genetic tools to discuss the role that evolution played in the spread of an invasive seaweed.

"Genetic Identification of Source and Likely Vector of a Widespread Marine Invader" (with Nicole M. Hadfield, James E. Byers, Terada Ryuta , Thomas W. Greig, Mareike Hammann, David C. Murray, Florian Weinberger, and Erik E. Sotk). Ecology and Evolution 7, no. 12 (2017): 4432-4447.

Uses widespread sampling combined with population genetic tools to identify the native range of an invasive species of seaweed and the likely method through which it spread