Richardson Hall 220 (973) 655-4397
Advising Coordinator: Molecular Biology
Courses Taught
BIOL 199 Freshman Seminar in Biology
BIOL 230 Cell and Molecular Biology
BIOL 435 Experimental Molecular Biology
BIOL 490 Senior Seminar in Biology
Research Interests
Research
in my lab focuses on population and conservation genetics of small, isolated
populations, and the factors that influence genetic structure in these
populations. Specifically, we use
molecular genetic data to determine genetic differences, levels of gene flow,
and evolutionary relationships between small, isolated populations of declining
frogs. I have worked extensively
with a species endemic to the Cascade and Olympic Mountains of the western US, Rana
cascadae, and I am now starting to focus on
eastern US frog species including the Pine Barrens tree frog, Hyla
andersonii. Questions we address include: How genetically divergent are
different populations from each other?
How are different populations related to each other evolutionarily? Are any populations genetically unique
enough to warrant separate conservation status? How many animals move from one population to another and
reproduce each generation? Is
there a pattern between genetic similarity and geographic proximity? In addition to working with frogs I
have also worked on nematodes, snakes, and beetles. I am currently collaborating with Dr. Merrill Peterson at
Western Washington University on a project investigating population genetic
structure and gene flow within hybrid populations of the sister species Chrysochus
auratus and C. cobaltinus.
Publications
Peterson, MA, B Honchak, S Locke, T Beeman, J Mendoza, J Green, K Buckingham, MA White, and K Monsen. 2005. Relative abundance and the species-specific reinforcement of male mating preference in the Chrysochus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) hybrid zone. Evolution 59:2639-2655
Peterson, MA, KJ Monsen, H Pederson , T McFarland , and J Bearden. 2005. Direct and indirect analysis of the fitness of Chrysochus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) hybrids. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 84:273-286
Monsen, KJ, and MS Blouin. 2004. Extreme isolation by distance in the Cascades frog Rana cascadae. Conservation Genetics 5:827-835
Monsen, KJ, and MS Blouin 2003. Genetic Structure in a Montane Ranid Frog: Restricted Gene Flow and Nuclear-Mitochondrial Discordance. Molecular Ecology 12:3275-3286
Monsen KJ. 2002. Population and Conservation Genetic Structure of the Cascades Frog, Rana cascadae Throughout the Species’ Range. PhD thesis. Oregon State University
Monsen, KJ, and MS Blouin 2001. An assessment of Population Genetic Structure of Ranid Frogs in the Skagit River Watershed. Seattle City Light Wildlife Research Program Technical Report
Hoberg, EP, KJ Monsen, S Kutz, MS Blouin. 1999. Historical
Biogeography of Nematode Faunas in Holarctic Ruminants: Morphological and Molecular
Diagnoses for
Teladorsagia boreoarcticus N Sp (Nematoda: Ostertagiinae), A Dimorphic Cryptic Species in Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). The Journal of Parasitology 85 (5): 910
Maser, RS, KJ Monsen, BE Nelms, JH Petrini.1997. hMre11
and hRad50 Nuclear Foci are Induced During the Normal Cellular Response to DNA
Double-Strand Breaks. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 1997 17(10):6087-96