Abigail E. Cahill
Associate Professor of Biology
B.A., 2007, Colgate University (Biology, French)
Ph.D., 2014, Stony Brook University (Ecology & Evolution)
Appointed: 2016
Expertise Areas: Ecology, evolution, marine biology, dispersal, invertebrate biology
Current Courses:
- BIO 195 (Ecology, Evolution, Biodiversity)
- BIO 225 (Invertebrate Biology)
- BIO 289 (Marine Biology)
Research Interests:
Dr. Cahill’s research interests center around evolutionary ecology of early life stages of marine species. She is interested in questions relating dispersal of marine invertebrates to other ecological and evolutionary processes, especially how dispersal type can influence local adaptation to temperature regimes and ultimately how these species may or may not evolve in response to global climate change. She is also interested in how marine invertebrate population dynamics are driven by recruitment and subsequent survival, and how these crucial processes are affected by environmental, phenotypic, and genetic variation. Answering these questions involves labwork using molecular methods, as well as lab and fieldwork with live organisms. At Albion, she will be branching out into freshwater invertebrate systems to ask some of these same questions regarding connectivity, dispersal, and life history.