Ph.D. Candidate, Physiology
Email: skell005@student.ucr.edu
Education:
B.A. Biology/Chemistry/Environmental Studies
Drury University (2001)
M.S. Biology
Missouri State University (2003)
Advisor: Thomas E. Tomasi
Dissertation Comittee:
Theodore Garland, Jr. (Major Professor)
Mark Chappell
Kim Hammond
Research Intrests:
My primary interests are in ecological and evolutionary animal physiology
and energetics. My Master's thesis was a study of the effects of ambient temperature
on metabolism and body composition in two species of bats, and its implications
for bat conservation biology (Abstract).
My dissertation will focus on the effects of the genetic selection that has
been imposed, in Ted Garland’s selectively bred lines of house mice, as compared
with the phenotypic
plasticity that can occur when mice have been given access to running wheels
and the ability to “self-train.” Projects will examine bone
morphology, organ plasticity, the hypoxic and hypercapnic ventilatory response,
blood
pressure, and locomotor endurance. The following are projects, also involving
the high-activity mice, I have worked on in addition to work related directly
to my dissertation: cost of locomotion, susceptibility to activity anorexia,
susceptibility to a parasitic nematode infection (as the high-activity mice
have chronically elevated plasma corticosterone levels), and estrous cycle length
in relation to selection and training.
Publications:
Kelly, S.A. and T.E. Tomasi. 2003. Ambient Temperature Effects on Metabolism and Body Composition in Torpid Bats (Myotis lucifugus and Pipistrellus subflavus). Integrative and Comparative Biology 43(6): 900. (Abstract)
Bunkers, J.L., S.A. Kelly, A. Bhanvadia, K.M. Blank, E. G. Platzer and T. Garland Jr. 2004. Susceptibility of Mice with Chronically Elevated Plasma Corticosterone to a Parasitic Nematode Infection. Integrative and Comparative Biology 44(6): 531. (Abstract)
Rezende, E.L., S.A. Kelly, F.R. Gomes, M.A. Chappell, and T. Garland, Jr. 2006. Effects of Size, Sex and Voluntary Running Speeds on Costs of Locomotion in Lines of Laboratory Mice Selected for High Wheel-Running Activity. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 79: 83-99. [PDF file]
Kelly, S.A., P.P. Czech, J.T. Wight, K.M. Blank, and T. Garland, Jr. 2006. Experimental Evolution and Phenotypic Plasticity of Hindlimb Bones in High-Activity House Mice. Journal of Morphology 267: 360-374. [PDF file]
Garland, T., Jr., and S. A. Kelly. 2006. Phenotypic Plasticity and Experimental Evolution. Journal of Experimental Biology 209: 2234-2261. [PDF file]
Publications in Preparation:
Kelly, S.A. and Garland, T. Jr. Wildness in house mice selectively bred for high acitivity levels. (for Genes, Brain, and Behavior)
Last updated 11 October 2006 by S.A.K
