People

We strive to create a safe, equitable, and inclusive research and work environment where all individuals are respected, recognized, and given the same opportunities to succeed. Discrimination and harassment of any kind are not tolerated. Our group has created a Code of Conduct highlighting our values and expectations for a safe and enriching research experience. All lab members are expected to abide by this Code of Conduct.

Interested in joining the lab? Send me an email at cprolian at ucalgary dot ca!

Current Lab Members

Campbell Rolian (PI): I am interested in skeletal variation and what it can tell us about evolutionary processes in vertebrates. Variation is the raw material for evolution, but there's still a lot we don't know about it, such as: (1) how variation within species is created by development, (2) how skeletal variation impacts function, and ultimately (3), how it impacts the ability of the skeleton to evolve. In other words, my interests center on how as opposed to why evolution happens the way it does.

Click here for my CV
Google scholar profile: link

Lily Hou (MSc student): Lily’s project is investigating the relationship between semicircular canal morphology and locomotor behavior in rodents, and whether these relationships can used to  to reconstruct behavior and paleo-environments in Miocene fossil-bearing localities in East Africa. Lily is co-supervised by Dr. Susanne Cote in the department of Anthropology and Archaeology at Calgary.

Vicki Tran (MSc student): Vicki’s project looks at bone metabolism during pregnancy and lactation in Longshanks vs wildtype mice, using a combination of microCT scanning and hormonal assays. Given Longshanks’ larger skeletons, but poorer bone quality (see Farooq et al 2017), Vicki is investigating whether Longshanks females mobilize bone-building resources differently during pregnancy and lactation.

Colton Unger (PhD student): Colton’s work looks at correlated responses to selection in the Longshanks mouse. After looking at cranial shape changes in the Longshanks mouse, Colton is now looking at correlated responses to selection in other postcranial bones, including their potential developmental genetic basis using  RNA sequencing. In a parallel project, Colton is also investigating differences in the capacity to heal bone fractures in Longshanks vs wildtype mice

Lab Alumni

Graduate Students (current position)
Marta Marchini - PhD (postdoc at Loyola University Chicago)
Leah Sparrow - MS (veterinarian, Cedarwood Veterinary Hospital)
Madison Bradley-Cronkwright - MA (PhD student at Duke University)

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Students
Nicole Phillips
Emma Foxcroft
Caileigh Reid
Mitchell Ashkin
Marian Trudeau
Emily Pellatt
Shannon Phelps
Lindsey Ackert

Undergraduate Students
Sarah Moore
Lily Hou
Elizabeth Silva
Khaleefah Alhojailan
Miranda Cosman
Saira Farooq
Khawaja Bakhtawar
Shannon Leussink
Nicole Montford
Alexandra Dowhanik
Carsten Krueger

High School Students
Rosie Zhao
Sebastian Alvarez
Sabrina Yu