The Lab Group

Leslie Riley, PhD student (leslie_riley@wsu.edu) -



Leslie is working on the ecological impact of the invasive New Zealand mud snail on a narrowly endemic snail Pyrgulopsis robusta in Yellowstone National Park. She is measuring the effects of the invader and Pyrgulopsis on periphyton algal resources (interaction strengths), and the effect of the invader on fitness of the endemic.


Devin Drown, PhD student



Devin is interested in the role of population structure in coevolution. He is studying patterns of host-parasite population structure and phylogeography in trematodes and snails. For more on Devin, see his personal web page.


Erica Kistner, Master's student

In the field of invasion ecology, the dynamics of an invasion are governed by ecological and evolutionary processes. Erica is especially interested in the role of phenotypic plasticity and evolution in morphological traits.


Graduate Student Opportunities -

There are opportunities to join our lab, and our energetic group in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology here at WSU. For a list of the some of the topics we will be working on, see my Research Interests.

Where are they now? The stories of former graduate students



Brandon Dalton, MS 2006

Thesis title: "How do species occupy novel ranges: the attributes of a worldwide clonal invader"

Current Position: PhD student, Montana State University

Publication: Dalton, B.M. and M.F. Dybdahl. The evolutionary dynamics of an invasive clonal population: a test of local adaptation across a heterogeneous range. Evolutionary Ecology Research In Review


Alison Emblidge Fromme, MS 2004

Thesis title: "Parasite-free invaders: the consequences of enemy loss in an invasive snail"

Current Position: Freelance writer, Berkeley CA

Publication: Fromme, A. and M.F. Dybdahl. 2006. Resistance in introduced populations of a freshwater snail to native range parasites. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 19:1948-1955


Leslie Riley, MS 2003

Thesis title: "Invasive species impact: competition and facilitation between stream snails"

Current Position: PhD student, WSU

Publication: Riley, L.A., M.F. Dybdahl, R.O. Hall, Jr. Grazing and competition interaction strengths match patterns of introduced species dominance. (in revision for resubmission)


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