Carolyn Bergstrom's Homepage

PhD - 2002 University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Thomas E. Reimchen (supervisor) University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- Evolution, functional morphology, and asymmetry of predator defense in stickleback (Thesis abstract)

BSc - 1995 University of Arizona, USA

Starting September 1, 2008: International Polar Year Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, Alaska

2003 - 2007 Alberta Ingenuity Postdoctoral Fellow, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre and the University of Alberta, Canada

My research interests are in two main areas. First, I am interested in the evolutionary significance of morphological and behavioural variation within species, and the role natural selection plays in the maintenance of this variation. Understanding the selective processes that result in divergent phenotypes within a species is an important step to understanding what drives biodiversity at broader scales. Second, I am interested
in the area of ecomorphology, or the relationship between fitness and trait function, and how this pertains to the biomechanical consequences of bilateral asymmetry.

I pursue these interests by studying the coastrange sculpin (Cottus aleuticus) threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and the starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus).

Bergstrom, C.A. and Palmer, A.R. 2007. Which way to turn? Effect of eye side on turning and prey strike orientation in polymorphic starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus). Journal of Fish Biology 71:737-748. (PDF)

Bergstrom, C.A. 2007. Morphological evidence of correlational selection and ecological segregation between dextral and sinistral forms in a polymorphic flatfish, Platichthys stellatus. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20:1104-1114. (PDF)

Bergstrom, C.A. and Reimchen, T.E. 2005. Habitat dependent associations between parasitism and fluctuating asymmetry among endemic stickleback populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 18: 939-948. (PDF)

Bergstrom, C.A. and Reimchen, T.E. 2003. Asymmetry in structural defences: insights into selective predation in the wild. Evolution 57(9)2128-2138. (PDF)

Bergstrom, C.A. and Reimchen, T.E. 2002. Geographical variation of asymmetry in Gasterosteus aculeatus.
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 77: 9-22. (PDF)

Bergstrom, C.A. 2002. Fast-start swimming performance and lateral plate reduction in threespine stickleback. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80: 207-213. (PDF)

Bergstrom, C.A. and Reimchen, T.E. 2000. Functional implications of fluctuating asymmetry among endemic populations of Gasterosteus aculeatus. Behaviour 137: 1097-1112. (abstract)