Dawn Higginson

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
E-mail: dmhigginson@email.arizona.edu
Phone: 520-621-4005
Lab: BioSciences West 425
Mailing address: P.O. Box 210088
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721-0088

• Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
• Research Interests
• Publications

I am broadly interested in understanding the origins and maintenance of biological diversity within and among species. Sexual selection is an important driver of diversity and has resulted in many spectacular adaptations including elaborate courtship displays, male weapons and complex signals of mate quality. My research focuses on the origin, and subsequent modification novel reproductive traits. Specifically, I use diving beetles as a model to investigate how variation in sperm morphology influences sperm performance, how sperm interact and coevolve with the female reproductive tract, and how changes in reproductive traits contribute to diversification.