Dr. Puritz studies the effects of environmental pollution caused by humans and human activity on marine organisms. Studying the evolutionary ecology of these organisms can help us understand the damage we are causing and ways we can mitigate it.

What's fascinating is that these stressors we cause on populations work differently as multiple stressors, than as the same stressor applied in single fashion. This could imply that the more damage we do, the more these populations are getting hurt. If you like learning about marine organisms and climate change, then you will definitely enjoy working in Dr. Puritz's lab.

There are multiple undergraduates working in the lab at a time. Some important skills and instruments used in this lab are DNA extraction, purification, quantification, library preparation, and lots of hardcore physical descriptive ecology.

The major lab interests are:

How natural and anthropogenic processes affect the evolution of marine populations through the lens of larval dispersal.

Analyzing patterns of selection and migration in a geographic context using landscape (or seascape) genomic models.

Develop laboratory and bioinformatic methods to facilitate the use of next-generation sequencing in non-model species.

If interested, best to contact through email: jpuritz@gmail.com