Laurie Stevison
Research Interests
I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University. My research combines computational and experimental techniques across several taxa to address major questions in evolutionary genomics, with a focus on speciation genetics. Speciation is the process by which new lineages are generated, thus understanding it at a genetic level informs strategies to preserve the biodiversity on our planet. The study of speciation seeks to determine the genetic changes and evolutionary forces that drive the initial formation of new species. A major focus of my research is to understand how meiotic recombination contributes to this process, and more broadly, to understand patterns of genetic variation within and between species. More recently, I have shifted my focus to the role of the environment in altering meiotic recombination rates.
Academic Career
Despite being early in my academic career, I have been conducting independent research for over 15 years. My first research experience was in a summer biomedical research program at LSU, funded by BRIN at the NIH. Together with my mentor, Dr. Mohamed Noor, this experience led to my co-first authored publication (Stevison et al 2004). In my master’s degree at Rice University with Dr. Michael Kohn, I mentored undergraduates and established independent collaborations to collect primate samples for my work. I later re-joined Dr. Noor’s lab for a PhD after he relocated to Duke University. During my PhD I secured independent funds for my research, including an NSF-DDIG which resulted in a sole authored paper (Stevison 2012). As a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Jeff Wall, I secured funding for part of my postdoctoral training through an NIH NRSA.
Since starting my faculty position, I have built a strong lab group, currently with four PhD students. I graduated one master’s student with a job in industry and I have trained two postdocs, one currently employed in industry and one in academia as an Assistant Professor at Penn State. I have also trained over 50 undergraduates, some of whom have co-authored publications. As such, I was recently recognized as one of the 2022 recipients of the COSAM Outstanding Faculty Undergraduate Mentor Award.
Diversity and Inclusion
My favorite analogy of diversity and inclusion is the identity iceberg. So much of our shared identity lies beneath what is visible to the outside world, meaning that we can't really 'see' our colleagues and they can't really 'see' us for who we are. So, I think it's important to share some parts of my identity iceberg as a way of helping others who may think they are alone in the academy!
First, for many years, I was in hiding as someone who didn't feel like I belonged among my peers. In graduate school, so many of my peers had parents that not only graduated college, but were professors. Still, I never had a 'label' for that feeling. Then I came to learn that I meet four of the seven criteria that the NIH uses to define an individual from a disadvantaged background (note: only 2 are required for this 'label'). Specifically, I grew up in a Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Area, was supported by both the WIC and free/reduced lunch programs as a child, and am a first-generation college graduate. As such, I am now dedicated to making sure that other promising students with similar backgrounds are afforded the opportunity to do research and succeed in their chosen career paths. As a faculty member in Alabama, I feel this is a goal I am uniquely suited to achieve. I am also happy to report that soon after becoming a faculty member, my mom, who had been working on her bachelor's degree for MANY years throughout my childhood, graduated and I was there to celebrate! I still think of myself as first generation to college, and I think this has made me appreciate the importance of education and the privilege of attaining a college degree.
Additionally, in August 2018, I birthed a child with a serious birth defect, which has contributed to the recent gap in my publications. Becoming a parent has opened my eyes so much and made me more willing to accommodate the needs of others, no questions asked. I am committed to spreading awareness of the challenges women parents face in academia that are invisible to anyone without shared experiences. Specifically, parents of children with special needs, but also to those of us raising toddlers during this pandemic.
Third, in teaching STEM, I try to provide examples of women scientists, and scientists of color that had major contributions to their fields. This includes role models like Dr. Tsuneko Okazaki who worked with her husband to study DNA replication, but isn’t even mentioned in my textbook despite mention of her husband. In teaching and mentoring, I try to remind my students that we are all human and humans make mistakes. So, to be rigorous in science we need to do things over and over again. I try to get to know the undergraduates in my lab and help all of my trainees make connections within the field so they have a strong network of other scientists when they leave the lab. Being a first gen scientist myself, I value these connections, which were crucial for me to learn to navigate academia over the years, while still being myself.
Finally, as a lab, we are dedicated to making an inclusive space that is welcoming to anyone who wants to experience research. Both myself and members of my lab are active with ongoing efforts at the Department Level to make Biology at Auburn an inclusive space. All students who join the lab are provided a transparent set of expectations, which includes treating others with respect and dignity.