Hopi E. Hoekstra

John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Natural Sciences
Curator of Mammals in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

Phone: 617-496-9040
E-mail:
Office: 206 MCZ Labs, 26 Oxford St

Lab Website: http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/hoekstra

Our research focuses on understanding how variation is generated and maintained in natural populations. We are particularly interested in the role of natural selection in shaping adaptive genetic and phenotypic variation as well as in reproductive isolation. We use an integrative approach combining molecular genetic techniques, theoretical modeling, experimental tests, breeding studies and fieldwork. With the completion of the laboratory mouse and rat genomes, natural populations of rodents are ideal systems in which both genetic and ecological information is available to address questions about the molecular basis of adaptation and speciation.

Recent Publications

Steiner, C.C., H. Römpler, L.M. Boettger, T. Schöneberg and H.E. Hoekstra. 2009. The genetic basis of phenotypic convergence in beach mice: similar pigment patterns but different genes.  Molecular Biology and Evolution 26(1):35-45.

Weber, J.N. and H.E. Hoekstra. 2009. The evolution of burrowing behavior in deer mice.  Animal Behavior 77:603-609.

Mullen, L.M. and H.E. Hoekstra. 2008. Natural selection along an environmental gradient: a classic cline in mouse pigmentation. Evolution 62(7):1555-1570.

Steiner, C.C., J.N. Weber and H.E. Hoekstra. 2007. Adaptive variation in beach mice caused by two interacting pigmentation genes. PLoS Biology 5(9):1880-1889.

Hoekstra, H.E. and J.A. Coyne. 2007. The locus of evolution: evo devo and the genetics of adaptation. Evolution 61(5):995-1016.

Stinchcombe, J.R. and H.E. Hoekstra. 2007. Population genomics and quantitative genetics: combined approaches for finding the genes underlying ecologically important traits. Heredity 100:158-170.

Hoekstra, H.E., R.J. Hirschmann, R.A. Bundey, P. Insel and J.P. Crossland. 2006. A single amino acid mutation contributes to adaptive color pattern in beach mice. Science 313:101-104.

See complete publications list.

Courses Taught

OEB 53. Evolutionary Biology

OEB 231. Speciation

OEB 370. Mammalian Evolutionary Genetics