Email: mary.rogalski@yale.edu
Office: Greeley Laboratory, Room 125
Phone: (203) 432-5321
Fax: (203) 432-3929

EDUCATION

RESEARCH INTERESTS

A growing body of research provides evidence of contemporary or rapid evolution: the potential for species show evolutionary responses to environmental changes in the timescales relevant to ecological processes.  I am broadly interested in this intersection between ecology, evolution and human modification of the landscape.   Beyond contributing to the ‘proof of concept’ aspect of contemporary evolution, I hope to add to our understanding of the relative importance of ecological vs. evolutionary dynamics in population and community level responses to environmental changes.  I am also interested in ways that evolutionary responses can enhance or impede ecological responses and vice versa. 

I’m just getting started developing my research ideas, so expect more to come!   

PAST EXPERIENCE

My master’s thesis at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies addressed the impact of nonnative Phragmites australis, an aggressive invasive wetland plant, on native bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) larval performance.  Taking an empirical approach, I asked the following questions: 1) Does nonnative Phragmites australis impact native bullfrog larval growth, development and survival rate?  2) Specifically, do these performance parameters differ among tadpoles fed a diet of Phragmites detritus compared with deciduous leaf litter detritus?  3) Have bullfrog populations breeding in ponds where nonnative Phragmites is present evolved adaptations to its effects on larval development?   Complementary field reciprocal transplant and laboratory common garden experiments suggest a positive influence of Phragmites on bullfrog larval performance, with no evidence of local adaptation in response to these effects.

As an undergraduate I developed interests in aquatic and marine ecology and global change.  My first exposure to research addressed the impact of boat traffic on Hawaiian humpback whales behavior.  Other projects included an analysis of competing biogeochemical pathways along a depth gradient in a salt marsh (Edgewater, MD) and a study on the impacts of building residential and commercial buildings in a landscape dominated by karst topography (York County, VA). 

A three year stint in Washington, D.C. working as an environmental science policy program assistant and conference coordinator exposed me to the role that science can and does play in decision-making processes at the national level.  The following two years I worked as a park naturalist in Arlington, VA.  There I fine tuned my appreciation of natural and human history, education and restoration.