Becky Cramer will study sperm length in rough periwinkle ecotypes
Becky Cramer has a Marie Curie fellowship at the Department of Marine Sciences. Here she will be researching sperm lengths on ecotypes of the rough periwinkle Littorina saxatilis. Becky Cramer has previously worked at Cornell University, the Museum of Natural History at the University of Oslo, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Centre and as a teacher in Doha, Qatar at Weill Cornell Medicine.
What will you be working on here?
"I’ll be working to understand differentiation between ecotypes of the snail Littorina saxatilis. We’ve long known that ecologically important traits, including shell shape and thickness, differ between the ecotype most exposed to crab predation and the ecotype most exposed to intense wave action. However, it was only in the last years that researchers at the Department discovered that the ecotypes also differ in sperm length. These differences could be important as a partial reproductive barrier between ecotypes, but this hypothesis has not yet been tested."
"During my Marie Curie fellowship, I will do experimental tests to assess whether differences in sperm length cause reduced fertility in between-ecotype matings. Further, I will use transcriptomics to understand how the differences in sperm length arise from a developmental perspective."
What did you do before?
"My previous work has focused on trait evolution, from both micro- and macro-evolutionary perspectives, in songbirds. I’m most interested in how sexual selection impacts trait evolution and speciation. During my PhD at Cornell University, my main focus was on song traits, while I have later focused more on sperm morphology and the potential role of sperm in speciation. I’m also interested in how anthropogenic change impacts organisms."
"I come to Tjärnö via one postdoctoral and one researcher position at the University of Oslo Natural History Museum, a postdoc at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, a stint working on an organic vegetable farm, and a teaching position in Doha, Qatar at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar."
What do you do when you are not working?
"I like being outside hiking, biking, kayaking, cross-country skiing, and also sitting inside with a cozy book or movie, or knitting with friends."
Anything else you would like to share
"When I was four years old, I decreed that I didn’t like my first name and that my family should use the nickname of my middle name instead. They were indulgent, and so I go by Becky. I still answer to Emily, though it might take me a minute to realize that you’re talking to me!"