Research in the Jordan Lab
I am interested in molecular evolution, molecular systematics, and adaptive DNA evolution. Research projects in my lab usually include several studies being conducted by Bucknell undergraduates. Todd Dowling searched for signatures of selection in mammalian genes. Mark Olaf and Jenn Mrozek studied the molecular and morphological systematics of the damselflies of the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. Emilie Barruet worked on the nuclear phylogeography of the Hawaiian damselfly Megalagrion koelense, and, with Mark, the phylogeography and conservation genetics of M. calliphya. Meg Cusimano continues her work on the molecular systematics of gall-making beetles of the genus Mordellistena. Postdoc Netta Dorchin is examining the molecular systematics of the Rhopalomyia gall midges. Bucknell alumna Sarah Carle recently completed an honors thesis on the phylogeography of the widespread Hawaiian damselfly M. koelense.
In 2003 I finished a postdoctoral research stage at the Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA) in Grenoble France. There, my principle research project was the large-scale DNA sequencing of candidate genes in domestic and wild goats and sheep. I sequenced a dozen genes of potential adaptive value in populations selected from extreme environments. I am currently using the population genomics approach to test these genes for signatures of selection in the hope of finding loci that are of adaptive importance. Loci that are evolving in a neutral fashion will be used to construct a global phylogeny of wild Capra (goats and their kin), a problem of long-standing interest among mammalogists.
My Ph.D. research involved study of the molecular systematics and phylogeography of aquatic insects. My focus was on damselflies (Odonata: Zygoptera) of the Pacific Ocean basin. My main project was a study of the endemic Hawaiian damselfly genus Megalagrion (Coenagrionidae). I explored the phylogeny and biogeography of this genus using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. I studied the phylogeography of several widespread Megalagrion species (M. xanthomelas, M. hawaiiense - with undergraduate researcher Barbara Parsons-, and M. koelense) that show a great deal of morphological variation across their ranges. Side projects included a collaboration with Kristen Jordan on a study of the endemic Fijian damselfly radiation of the genus Nesobasis (Coenagrionidae).
Publications (*Bucknell student authors):
Dorchin, N., E. R. Scott, C. E. Clarkin*, M. P. Luongo*, S. Jordan, and W. G. Abrahamson. 2009. Behavioural, ecological and genetic evidence confirm the occurrence of host-associated differentiation in goldenrod gall-midges. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(4): 729-739.
Jones, B. R.*, S. Bogdanowicz, S. Jordan. 2009. Isolation and characterization of 16 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the endemic Hawaiian damselfly Megalagrion xanthomelas (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Molecular Ecology Resources 9(1): 165-167.
Jordan, S., E. Barruet*, M. Olaf*, B. Parsons, and C. Simon. 2007. Blue hawaiiense and beyond: conservation genetics and comparative phylogeography of four Hawai’ian Megalagrion damselfly species (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Proceedings of the Symposium on the Biology of Hawaiian Streams and Estuaries: Bishop Museum Bulletin in Cultural and Environmental Studies 3: 247–260. PDF
Pidancier, N.+, S. Jordan+, G. Luikart, P. J. Weinberg, and P. Taberlet. 2006. Evolutionary history of the genus Capra (Mammalia, Artiodactyla): Discordance between mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome phylogenies. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40:739-749. PDF (+Co-first authors)
Jordan S., C. Miquel, P. Taberlet, and G. Luikart. 2006. Sequencing primers and SNPs for rapidly evolving reproductive loci in endangered ibex and their kin (Bovidae, Capra spp.). Molecular Ecology Notes 6: 776-779. PDF
Jordan, S., C. Simon, D. Foote, and R. A. Englund. 2005. Phylogeographic patterns of Hawaiian Megalagrion damselflies (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) correlate with Pleistocene island boundaries. Molecular Ecology. 14: 3457–3470. PDF
Beja-Pereira, A., P. R. England, N. Ferrand, S. Jordan, A. Bakhiet, M. A. Abdalla, M. Mashkour, J. Jordana, P. Taberlet, G. Luikart. 2004. Two African origins of the domestic donkey. Science 304:1781. PDF
Luikart, G., P. R. England, D. Tallmon, S. Jordan and P. Taberlet. 2003. The power and promise of population genomics: from genotyping to genome typing. Nature Reviews Genetics 4: 981-994. PDF
Jordan, S. , C. Simon, and D. Polhemus. 2003. Molecular systematics and adaptive radiation of Hawaii's endemic damselfly genus Megalagrion (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Systematic Biology 52(1): 89-109. PDF
Johnson, J. B. and S. Jordan. 2000. Phylogenetic divergence in leatherside chub (Gila copei) inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences. Molecular Ecology 9:1029-1035. PDF
Jordan, S., D. K. Shiozawa, and J. M. Schmid-Araya. 1999. Benthic invertebrates of a large, sandy river system: The Green and Colorado Rivers of Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 147(1):91-127. PDF
Visit the Bucknell Biology Department, Environmental Studies program, Environmental Residential College, and Environmental Center.