Anusha Bishop

I study how evolution plays out across landscapes with the goal of determining species vulnerability to environmental change. I develop and apply methods for understanding the distribution and drivers of genetic diversity, and work with the California Conservation Genomics Project to inform the conservation of hundreds of species across the state.

Genetic diversity is crucial for maintaining population health and enabling species to adapt to change. My research involves building and applying tools for understanding how genetic diversity is structured across space and how this impacts species vulnerability to environmental change. I developed a new method for creating continuous maps of genetic diversity, called wingen, which can be used to study the distribution of genetic diversity across space. By studying spatial patterns of genetic diversity in western fence lizards, I have found that paleoclimate change over thousands of years has played an important role in shaping genetic diversity today – climatically stable areas harbor greater genetic diversity, while areas that have experienced greater climate change have lower genetic diversity. I am working with the California Conservation Genomics Project to apply these approaches to 200+ species, identifying common genetic diversity hotspots for conservation and uncovering the drivers of diversity across the tree of life.