Tracy Smith
Senior Lecturer
Biological Sciences
Biological Sciences 466
Education
Ph D University of Maryland Baltimore County 2014
M.Ed. Wesley College 2002
BS Washington College 2000
+1 410 455 3384
Research Interests
The Role of Epigenetics in Population Differentiation and Speciation
Theory suggests that heritable epigenetic marks that increase fitness should increase in frequency in a population, and these changes may result in novel morphology, behavior, or physiology, and ultimately reproductive isolation. I am interested in the role epigenetic variation plays and how it might provide the first substrate for selection during the course of evolutionary divergence.
The Evolution of Dogs and the Impact of Artificial Breed Barriers
I am interested in the origin and evolution of dogs from domestication to modern day. While it is generally accepted that the first dogs evolved from a now extinct wolf ancestor somewhere in Eurasia, exactly where and when is still intensely debated. However, recent technological advances are allowing us to dig deeper into the history of dogs using DNA to reconstruct their past.
I am also interested in the impact of closed gene pools and breed barriers on the genetic health of dogs. Considerable genetic diversity is being lost within modern breeds primarily due to bottlenecks at breed formation and subsequent use of popular sires resulting in small effective population sizes. In addition, artificial isolation within breeds (e.g., show vs working lines) creates strong barriers to gene flow and leads to genetic differentiation among subpopulations resulting in even smaller fragmented populations.
Teaching Interests
My teaching interests include Evolution, Population Genetics, Conservation Genetics, Transmission Genetics, and Ecology. I am also interested in how students learn and incorporating best teaching practices into my classes.
Selected Classes
- Spring 2022 BIOL 466 – Population & Conservation Gen
- BIOL 123 – Human Genetics
- Fall 2021 BIOL 142 – Foundations of Biol: Eco/Evo
- Summer 2021 BIOL 466 – Population & Conservation Gen
- Spring 2020 BIOL 123 – Human Genetics
- Fall 2019 BIOL 302 – Molecular & General Genetics
- Fall 2018 BIOL 302 – Molecular & General Genetics
- Spring 2018 BIOL 666 – Population and Conservation Genetics
- BIOL 300L – BIOL300L Experimental Biology Laboratory
- BIOL 466 – BIOL 466/666 Population and Conservation Genetics
- Spring 2017 BIOL 300L – Experimental Biology Laboratory
- Fall 2015 BIOL 142 – Foundations of Biology: Ecology and Evolution
- Spring 2015 BIOL 142 – Foundations of Biology: Ecology and Evolution
- BIOL 300L – Experimental Biology Laboratory
Intellectual Contributions
Smith, Tracy A., Martin, Michael, Nguyen, Michael, Mendelson, Tamra. (2016). Epigenetic Divergence as a Potential First Step in Darter Speciation. 25. 1883–1894 Molecular Ecology.
Smith, Tracy A., Ciccotto, Patrick J., Mendelson, Tamra C., Page, Larry M. (2014). Dense Taxon Sampling Using AFLPs Leads to Greater Accuracy in Phylogeny Estimation and Classification of Darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae). 2. 2014 257-268 Copeia.
Smith, Tracy A., Mendelson, Tamra C., Page, Larry M. (2011). AFLPs support deep relationships in darters consistent with morphological hypotheses.. 6. 107 579–588 Heredity.