Molly Schumer
106A Guyot Hall
Princeton, New Jersey 08544
[email protected]
609-258-3160
Education
Reed College, Portland, Oregon, 2005-2009.
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 2011-present
PhD candidate
Awards and Grants
2014-2016
2013
2013
2013
2012
2012
2011-2015
2011-2014
2009-2011
2009
2009
2008
2008-2009
2007
2007
2007
National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant
Walbridge Award, Princeton Environmental Institute
Student Research Award, Society for Animal Behavior
Vern Parish Award, American Livebearer Association
Graduate Research Award, Society for Systematic Biology
Rosemary Grant Award, Society for the Study of Evolution
Centennial Fellowship in the Sciences and Engineering
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Significant classroom gains, Teach for America
Phi Beta Kappa
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Best Student Poster
Reed College Opportunity Grant Recipient
Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program Grant
James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation Award Recipient
James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation Summer Award Recipient
Goldwater Scholarship
Research Interests
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Hybridization and speciation
Sexual selection
Population genomics
Genetic architecture of traits under selection
Methods for detecting hybridization
Publications
Cui, R., Schumer, M., Rosenthal, G. Admix’em: A flexible framework for forward-time simulations of
hybrid populations with selection and mate choice. In Review.
Schumer, M.*, Cui, R.*, Rosenthal, G., Andolfatto, P. simMSG: an experimental design tool for highthroughput genotyping of hybrids. In Revision. *co-first authorship
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Rosenthal, G., Andolfatto, P. (2015). Reproductive isolation of hybrid populations
driven by genetic incompatibilities. PLoS Genetics doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005041.
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Powell, D., Dresner, R., Rosenthal, G., Andolfatto, P. (2014). High-resolution
Mapping Reveals Hundreds of Genetic Incompatibilities in Hybridizing Fish Species. eLife doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02535.
Featured in: Science News
The Naked Scientists podcast
Molly Schumer
Schumer, M., Rosenthal, G., Andolfatto, P. (2014). How common is hybrid speciation? Evolution
doi:10.1111/evo.12399.
Culumber, Z. W., Schumer M., Monks S., Tobler M. (2014). Environmental heterogeneity generates
opposite gene-by-environment interactions for two fitness-related traits within a population. Evolution
doi: 10.1111/evo.12574.
Cui, R., Schumer, M., Kruesi, K., Walter, R., Andolfatto, P., Rosenthal, G. (2013). Phylogenomics
reveals extensive reticulate evolution in Xiphophorus fishes. Evolution 67:2166-2179.
Renn, S.C.P. and Schumer, M. (2013). Genetic accommodation and behavioral evolution: insights from
genomic studies. Animal Behavior 85: 1012-1022.
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Boussau, B., Walter, W., Rosenthal, G., Andolfatto, P. (2012). An evaluation of
the hybrid speciation hypothesis for Xiphophorus clemenciae based on whole genome sequences.
Evolution 67: 1155-1168.
Zhen, Y., Aardema, M.L., Medina, E.M., Schumer, M., Andolfatto, P. (2012). Parallel molecular
evolution in a herbivore community. Science 337:1634-1637.
Schumer, M.*, Birger, R.*, Tantipathananandh, C., Aurisano, J., Maggioni, M., Mwangi, P. (2012).
Infestation by a Common Parasite is Strongly Influenced by Ant Symbiont Identity in a Plant-Ant
Mutualism. Biotropica 45: 276-279. *co-first authorship
Schumer, M., Krishnakant, K., and Renn, S.C.P. (2011). Comparative gene expression profiles for
highly similar aggressive phenotypes in male and female cichlid fishes (Julidochromis). Journal of
Experimental Biology 214:3269-3278.
Spengler, M., Kuropatwinski, K., Schumer, M. and Antoch, M. (2009). A serine cluster mediates
BMAL1-dependent CLOCK phosphorylation and degradation. Cell Cycle 8:24, 4138-4146.
Selected presentations
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Rosenthal, G.G., Andolfatto, P. (2015). Hybridization, selection, and speciation in
swordtail fish. Invited seminar: Eawag aquatic research group, Lucerne, Switzerland.
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Rosenthal, G.G., Andolfatto, P. (2015). Reproductive isolation of hybrid
populations driven by genetic incompatibilities. Contributed talk: Presented at New York Area
Population Genomics Workshop 2015.
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Rosenthal, G.G., Andolfatto, P. (2014). The role of hybrid incompatibilities in
hybrid zone structure. Contributed talk: Presented at Evolution 2014.
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Powell, D., Rosenthal, G.G., Andolfatto, P. (2014). High-resolution mapping
reveals hundreds of genetic incompatibilities in hybridizing fish species. Contributed talk: Presented at
Biology of Genomes 2014.
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Powell, D., Rosenthal, G.G., Andolfatto, P. (2013). The genetic architecture of
reproductive isolation between naturally hybridizing species. Invited seminar: Texas A&M University.
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Powell, D., Rosenthal, G.G., Andolfatto, P. (2013). Genome-wide analysis of
replicate hybrid zones between the swordtail fish Xiphophorus birchmanni and X. malinche. Contributed
talk: Presented at Evolution 2013.
Schumer, M., Cui, R., Rosenthal, G.G., Andolfatto, P. (2012). No evidence of hybrid speciation based
on whole-genome sequencing of the freshwater fish Xiphophorus clemenciae. Presented at Evolution
2012 (Ottawa, Ontario).
Molly Schumer
Schumer, M., and Renn, S.C.P. (2011). Comparative gene expression profiles for highly similar
aggressive phenotypes in male and female cichlid fishes. Contributed talk: Presented at Behavior 2011
(Bloomington, IN).
Research positions
Dissertation Research: Hybridization, selection, and speciation in Xiphophorus fish, 2011-present
(research adviser: Professor Peter Andolfatto, co-adviser: Professor Gil Rosenthal)
Undergraduate Thesis Research: Gene expression, hormones, and behavior in a sex-role conventional
and sex-role reversed cichlid species pair, 2008-2009 (research adviser: Professor Suzy C.P. Renn)
Summer Research Assistant: Plasticity in sex-specific aggression and gene expression in J. transcriptus,
2010, (research advisers: Professor Suzy C.P. Renn and Professor Albyn Jones)
Roswell Park Cancer Institute Research Assistant: The mechanisms of BMAL-dependent CLOCK
phosphorylation, 2008, (research adviser: Dr. Mary Spengler)
Independent Research: rDNA gene copy-number is correlated with the environment in a perennial
wildflower, Delphinium nuttallii, 2007-2008, (research adviser: Professor Keith Karoly)
Miller Foundation Summer Student Fellowship: Gene Duplication and divergence among the genus
Julidochromis, 2007, (research adviser: Professor Suzy C.P. Renn).
Teaching and mentoring
Prison Teaching Initiative: Instructor and course leader, 2013-present. This program offers community
college courses to prison inmates to help them earn their associate’s degree while in prison. I have taught
environmental science (four semesters, 2 semesters as course leader) and plant ecology and evolution
(two semesters). I designed the plant ecology and evolution course with another graduate student in the
summer of 2014.
Senior thesis advising: I have been the primary supervisor of four senior thesis students.
• Nikki Chu, class of 2013: Mate preference and hybridization in Xiphophorus hellerii and maculatus
• Lauren Castellon, class of 2014: Gene expression of candidate genes underlying a sexually selected
melanotic phenotype in Xiphophorus
• Rebecca Dresner, class of 2014: Identifying potential hybrid incompatibilities using linkage
disequilibrium in hybrid Xiphophorus populations
• Megan Abbott, class of 2016: Historical changes in population structure and assortative mating in
hybrid Xiphophorus populations
Assistant in Instruction: Teaching Assistant for Princeton’s undergraduate evolution course: EEB 209,
2011-2012; 2012-2013.
Teach for America: 6th grade science teacher in Clarksdale, MS, 2009-2011.
Reviewer
Evolution, Molecular Ecology, PLoS Genetics, eLife, Journal of Evolutionary Biology