Research Interests

My main research interests include the evolutionary biology and ecology of species and species complexes.  Separate and yet not mutually exclusive evolutionary forces often contribute to the complex phylogenetic relationships we are witness to across the globe.  These include events such as hybridization and introgression between closely related taxa, past and current speciation events, and incomplete lineage sorting.  My research focuses on these biological phenomena, and how they help to shape the current patterns and genetic relationships among organisms.  Particular interesting to me are cases where additional anthropogenic forces are likely contributing to already complex natural processes.  Such is the case in North American waterfowl, for instance, where a commercially and recreationally valuable species complex has been subjected to both natural and artificial influences, resulting in the patterns of phylogeography and distribution we see today.  My current work is focused on how anthropogenic stressors have affected the spread of recently introduced, multi-host pathogens, and how migrant bird populations have been affected by such introductions.

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Photos by Fred Greenslade (http://www.deltamarsh.com/)

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Education

PhD in Biology, Boston University, Department of Biology, Boston, MA.
Thesis: Global Phylogeography of the Mallard Complex (genus Anas): Speciation, Hybridization, and Lineage Sorting

MA in Biology, Boston University, Department of Biology, Boston, MA.

BA, in Archaeology, Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA.

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Software

AFLrePlacer is a simple application package for Mac OS X (with or without Intel chip) that will convert your GeneMapper (Applied Biosystems, Foster City) AFLP output table .txt file to a format suitable for input in Structure (Pritchard et al. 2000a). Feel free to contact the author at iluvsa@ucla.edu with any questions/improvements. Copyright © 2007, Ryan J. Harrigan, University of California, Los Angeles.

Often when working in the epidemiological and public health realm, we want to use human case data (on positive cases of West Nile virus, for instance) but need to maintain confidentiality of human records. IRE (Introduce Random Error) is a small macro written for Microsoft Excel, that introduces an accepted range of error values to latitude and longitude coordinates, such that records can still be useful while maintaining health department privacy policies. This is a general random error generator, so applications may be broader than the specified purpose for which it was created. For full instructions, click here. Feel free to contact the author at iluvsa@ucla.edu with any questions/improvements. Copyright © 2009, Ryan J. Harrigan, University of California, Los Angeles.

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