Katie Solari

Katie is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Petrov Lab (2019-now) and the Associate Director of the Program for Conservation Genomics (PCG). Katie’s PhD work in the Hadly Lab at Stanford University focused on investigating what mechanisms pika species (small mammals related to rabbits) are using to afford them hypoxia-tolerance at high elevations. Her results show that different pika species have genetic adaptations specializing them to the general elevational range of the species, but that on a local and even individual scale, changes in gene expression may offer a mechanism by which pikas can rapidly acclimate to hypoxic conditions. Check out this paper that describes some of this work. As part of the Petrov Lab and PCG, Katie will be working to develop pipelines, tools, and collaborations to help bring genomics into the field of conservation management. To read more about Katie and her work check out her personal website.