Ned Dochtermann

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Dept. of Biology; University of Nevada, Reno

I am a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Nevada, Reno and recent graduate of the Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Group (link). My research interests focus on the evolutionary and ecological significance of intra-specific and intra-population variation.

My dissertation research focused on how phenotypic trait covariance may constrain the ability of populations to respond to selection. Tied to this is an interest in how variation among individuals influences population dynamics.

For my post-doctoral research I am studying the population dynamics of the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, a threatened salmonid. Because many populations of Lathontan cutthroat trout are now restricted to small headwater reaches, many populations are now at high risk of extinction. I am studying differences between populations in demographic stochasticity and population size variability and how this may affect the risk of local extinction.