Past NIMBioS Postdoctoral Fellow
Andrew Kanarek
Dates: August 2011 – July 2013
Personal website
Project Title: An integrated theoretical analysis of the influence of individual trait variation on the dynamics and persistence of small populations
As a NIMBioS postdoctoral fellow, Andrew Kanarek (Ph.D., Biology, Colorado State University, 2011) studied how small populations persist when faced with increased extinction risk. Whether individuals in these populations are confronted with an altered ecological context, for instance, an invasive species trying to colonize a new habitat outside of their native range, a disease spreading within a host population, or an endangered species trying to rebound from below their critical population size, life history variation and dispersal dynamics inevitably influence successful persistence (Kanarek et al. 2012). Based on this prediction, Kanarek studied the interaction between ecological and evolutionary processes to better understand the role of density dependence on population viability. Kanarek developed a number of individual-based simulations to investigate various adaptive responses (such as flightlessness in Lepidoptera, delayed growth and migration timing of anadromous fish, and host immune response) to novel selection pressures. Kanarek, along with former postdoctoral fellow, Xavier Thibert-Plante, also explored how the assumptions underlying differing genetic architectures influence the rate of evolution with applications for insect resistance to pesticides.
Kanarek has also been involved with other projects ranging from an analysis of invasive species performance in their new ranges (Parker et al. 2013), indirect effects of parasites in invasions (Dunn et al. 2012), an individual-based model for Johne's disease epidemiology and economy, implementing optimal control theory for agent-based models, and developing models to explore the evolution of play behavior. Upon completing his fellowship at NIMBioS, Dr. Kanarek accepted a position as a Biologist with the Environmental Protection Agency.
NIMBioS Seminar: Ecological and evolutionary consequences of Allee effects in small founder populations of invasive species
Feature Story: The dynamics of small populations
Video Interview:
The dynamics of small populations
Publications while at NIMBioS
Robins J, Bogen S, Francis A, Westhoek A, Kanarek A, Lenhart S, Eda S. Accepted (2015). Agent-based model for Johne's disease dynamics in a dairy herd. Veterinary Research Journal.
Kanarek AR, Webb CT, Barfield M, Holt RD. 2015. Overcoming Allee effects through evolutionary, genetic, and demographic rescue. Journal of Biological Dynamics, 9(1): 15-33. [Online]
Kanarek AR, Webb CT, Barfield M, Holt RD. 2013. Allee effects, aggregation, and invasion success. Theoretical Ecology, 6(2): 153-164. [Online].
Parker JD, Torchin ME, Hufbauer RA, Lemoine NP, Alba C, Blumenthal DM, Bossdorf O, Byers JE, Dunn AM, Heckman RW, Hejda M, Jarosik V, Kanarek AR, Martin LB, Perkins Se, Pysek P, Schierenbeck K, Schloder C, van Klinken R, Vaughn KJ, Williams W, Wolfe LM. 2013. Do invasive species perform better in their new ranges? Ecology, 94: 985-994. [Online].
Dunn AM, Torchin ME, Hatcher MJ, Kotanen PM, Blumenthal DM, Byers JE, Coon CAC, Frankel VM, Holt RD, Hufbauer RA, Kanarek AR, Schierenbeck KA, Wolfe LM, Perkins SE. 2012. Indirect effects of parasites in invasions. Functional Ecology, 26(6): 1262-1274. [Online].
Presentations while at NIMBioS
Kanarek A. 11-14 November 2012. Modeling quantitative genetics: How to be genetically explicit. Insect-Plant Interaction Symposium, Entomological Society of America National Meeting.
Kanarek A. 12-14 September 2012. Allee effects and invasion success. NEOBIOTA, Halting Biological Invasions: From Data to Decisions, 7th European Conference on Biological Invasions, Pontevedra, Spain.
Kanarek A. 5-10 August 2012. Overcoming Allee effects through evolutionary, genetic, and demographic rescue. Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR.
Kanarek A. 25-28 July 2012. Individual-based modeling and the consequences of Allee effects. Society for Mathematical Biology, Knoxville, TN.
Kanarek A. 20 March 2012. Paradox lost: Rescure from Allee effects. Applied Biomathematics, SUNY Stony Brook.
Kanarek A. 17 January 2012. Ecological and evolutionary consequences of Allee effects in small founderpopulations of invasive species. NIMBioS Seminar Series, NIMBioS, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. [Online]
Kanarek A. 18 November 2011. FishHeads Seminar Series speaker.
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