Andrew M. Sackman Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology

Parmly 303
asackman@wlu.edu
Website - Curriculum Vitae

I study the genetics of adaptation with a focus on the mechanisms by which epistasis, pleiotropy, and the underlying distribution of fitness effects (DFE) determine the properties of adaptive walks. My work utilizes a combination of wet-lab and computational approaches. In the lab, I experimentally evolve microvirid bacteriophages to explore the properties and limits of adaptation. I also work toward the development of new population genetic methods that are applicable to viruses and other organisms with highly skewed offspring distributions, for the purpose of analyzing population genomic data from experimentally evolved populations.

Education

B.S. - 2010 - Washington and Lee University

Ph.D. - 2017 - Florida State University

Selected Publications

Sackman AM, Rokyta DR. 2019. No cost of complexity in bacteriophages adapting to a complex environment. Genetics 212(1): 267-276. (*Corresponding author)

Sackman AM, Harris RB, Jensen JD. 2019. Inferring demography and selection in organisms characterized by skewed offspring distributions. Genetics 211(3): 1019-1028. (*Corresponding author)

Harris RB, Sackman AM, Jensen JD. 2018. On the unfounded enthusiasm for soft selective sweeps II: examining recent evidence from humans, flies, and viruses. PLOS Genetics 14(12): e1007859. (*Co-first author)

Sackman AM, Rokyta DR. 2018. Additive phenotypes underlie epistasis of fitness effects. Genetics 208: 339-348