Highlights
July 2009: In July, Dr. Eric Hoffman and his student Rosanna tursi were written up in several news article about their work on the conservation genetics of the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit (AKA, the Playboy bunny).
Research
fundamental aim of evolutionary biology is to understand the diversity of phenotypes found in natural populations. This aim is the motivation behind my research to determine how genetic and phenotypic variation influence organismal evolution. The main theme of my research program is to investigate levels of genetic variation present in natural populations and to utilize this information to address hypotheses about the molecular ecology/population genetics of the organism. This theme has manifested into an array of research avenues that share this common goal. Within population genetics, my research falls into three general categories investigating:
- The evolutionary history of an organism
- Conservation genetics
- Evolution of invasive species
I am open to working on just about any organism such that the research generally fits into the above categories
Publications
- May, Sarah E., Kim A. Medley, Steve A. Johnson, and Eric A. Hoffman. 2011. Combining genetic structure and ecological niche modeling to establish units of conservation: A case study of an imperiled salamander. In press, Biological Conservation.
- Degner, Jacob F., Diana M. Silva, Tyler D. Hether, Juan M. Daza, and Eric A. Hoffman. 2010. Fat frogs, mobile genes: unexpected phylogeographic patterns for the ornate chorus frog (Pseudacris ornata). Molecular Ecology, 19:2501-2515.
- Yuan, Wei, Linda J. Walters, Kimberly R. Schneider and Eric A. Hoffman. 2010. Exploring the survival threshold: A study of salinity tolerance of the non-native mussel, Mytella charruana. Journal of Shellfish Research, 29:415-422.
- Gilg, Matthew R., Eric A. Hoffman, Kimberly R. Schneider, Josiah Ryabinov, Christine El-Khoury, and Linda J. Walters. 2010. Interaction between marine invasions and land-use changes: recruitment preferences of non-native mussels.Journal of Molluscan Studies 76:333-339.
- Williams, Sara E., and Eric A. Hoffman. 2009. Minimizing genetic adaptations in captive breeding programs: a review. Biological Conservation 142:2388-2400.
- Gillis, Nancy K., Linda J. Walters, Flavio C. Fernandes and Eric A. Hoffman. 2009. Genetic structure of native and introduced populations of the charru mussel Mytella charruana. Diversity and Distributions, 15:784-795.
- Hoffman, Eric A., Jennifer L. Kovacs and Michael A. D. Goodisman. 2008. Genetic structure and breeding system in a social wasp and its social parasite. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2008:8:239, pp. 1-13.
- Hoffman, Eric A. and M. A. D. Goodisman. 2007. Gene expression and the evolution of phenotypic diversity in social wasps. BMC Biology 5:23.
- Harlin-Cognato, A., Eric A. Hoffman, and A. G. Jones. 2006. Gene cooption without duplication during the evolution of a male-pregnancy gene in pipefish. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 103, 19407-19412.
- Hoffman, Eric A., F. W. Schueler, A. G. Jones, and M. S. Blouin. 2006. An assessment of selection on a color polymorphism in the northern leopard frog.Molecular Ecology, 15:2627-2641.
- Hoffman, Eric A., F. W. Schueler, and M. S. Blouin. 2004. Effective population sizes and temporal stability of genetic structure in Rana pipiens, the northern leopard frog.Evolution, 58:2536-2545.
- Hoffman, Eric A. and M. S. Blouin. 2004. Evolutionary history of the northern leopard frog: Reconstruction of phylogeny, phylogeography, and historical changes in population demography from mitochondrial DNA. Evolution 58:145-159.
- Hoffman, Eric A. and M. S. Blouin. 2000. A review of color and pattern polymorphisms in anurans.Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 70:633-665.
Memberships
- Association for the Study of Ichthyology and Herpetology
- Howard Hughes Undergraduate Enrichment Program, UCSD
- National Shellfish Association
- Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
- Society for the Study of Evolution
- Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology
- Zoology Graduate Student President