OUR RESEARCH

In the Willoughby lab, we focus on using genomic data to inform conservation and disease management. Our primary research goal revolves around the conservation genetics of wild populations, particularly in understanding the spread of diseases and the implications of genomic variants on fitness. Our goal is to decipher how gene variants, or alleles, are distributed among landscapes and populations, how the frequencies of the alleles change over time. Such changes can often be attributed to the migration of individuals between different habitats and the impact of environmental shifts on genetic compositions, and these movements themselves influence disease resistance and population stability. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for conserving our natural resources but also for managing infectious diseases.