Dr. Turcotte received his Ph.D. in 2011 with David Reznick and J. Daniel Hare at the University of California at Riverside. He performed his postdoctoral studies with Marc Johnson at the University of Toronto at Mississauga (2011-2014) and then with Jonathan Levine at ETH Zurich (2014-2017). He joined the Department in January 2017.
My research focus is Evolutionary Community Ecology, which means I study the dynamic interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes over very rapid timescales. Using a variety of complementary approaches, especially experimental evolution, I test how species interactions and environmental change drive evolution. Critically, I also test how these evolutionary changes in turn alter ecological dynamics and future evolutionary dynamics. Using rapidly evolving plant and insect study systems my lab investigates various topics such as:
- Experimental eco-evolutionary feedbacks in the field.
- The impact of phenotypic plasticity in species coexistence.
- Eco-evolutionary consequences of plant domestication.
For more information, visit my Lab web page.