CAREER: The genomics of urbanization in house mice

Wildlife is everywhere, even in cities. As urban ecosystems grow, it is important to understand how cities affect wildlife. For example, animals that live in urban areas may have different diets, experience different types of stress, and move around in different ways than animals in rural areas. Over time, those differences can shape how populations evolve and adapt. This project will survey house mouse populations in three urban-rural pairs and use genomic data to investigate the evolutionary impacts of urban environments. House mice are widespread, found in both cities and rural areas, and they are a genetic model system, making them well-suited for the proposed research. Understanding how cities impact house mice may help us better manage them, anticipate effects in other organisms, and understand more about evolutionary processes. The project also aims to support the education of future scientists through engaging students and teachers in research and by generating scientific and educational resources for use by the broader community. This project will integrate organismal and genomic approaches to investigate how house mice evolve in urban environments. First, genomic analyses will be used to compare patterns of neutral genetic variation in urban and rural environments and to detect selection. Second, analyses of trait variation, patterns of gene expression, and functional data will be used to identify differences among urban and rural mice and connect genomic variation to potentially adaptive changes in traits. The proposed research will address questions about genetic structure in urban and rural populations, the genetic basis of urban adaptation, and the role of regulatory evolution in adaptation. Undergraduates will participate directly in the proposed research, developing them as field, laboratory, and computational scientists. In addition, the impact of the project will be broadened by including high school teachers, incorporating multiple undergraduate courses, creating natural history and genomic resources, and developing educational activities and materials that can be used in K-16 settings. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.