Sarah Otto
Life and Career
Research
Degrees
Awards
Source - MLA Format
Otto, Sarah. "Sarah P. Otto." Zoology Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2012. <http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~otto/>.
- Sarah Otto is a 43-year-old Canadian biologist who was born in 1968
- She received her Bachelor’s of Science in 1988 and her Ph.D. in 1992 from Stanford University
- In 1995, she joined the University of British Columbia as an assistant professor of zoology
- Currently, she is a professor of zoology and the director of Biodiversity research
- Other than dedicating much of her time to research, she is also a proficient educator, having recently contributed to a mathematics textbook which prepares biologists for quantitative analysis
Research
- Her areas of research include population genetics and some aspects of evolution
- Generally, she is researching when haploid/diploid life forms are favored by evolution, the evolution of mating preferences, how mutation rates and chromosomes evolve.
- Her research is aimed to help answer questions such as the reason why some species reproduce sexually and why some species carry multiple copies of one gene
- Her work incorporates both evolution and genetics
- Prior to her research, being diploidic (having two gene copies) was thought to happen in order to mask the effects of gene mutations; the second functional copy of the gene may still be able to perform the required function
- However, having two gene copies also means that it is easier for mutations to persist in a species population
- Her research team is undergoing a series of experiments associated with mutation persistence and its effects on evolution
- They predict that multiple copies of a gene are favored by species who favor sexual reproduction because in highly sexual reproductive species, genes are continuously placed in different combinations and the wrong gene copies are masked
- However, species that do not prefer sexual reproduction (as much) focus more on getting the bad mutations out of their population
- Her research answers questions about the evolutionary benefits of sexual reproduction
Degrees
- Bachelors of Science – Stanford University – 1988
- Ph.D. – Stanford University - 1992
Awards
- MacArthur Fellowship ($500,000 award, spread out over five years)
Source - MLA Format
Otto, Sarah. "Sarah P. Otto." Zoology Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2012. <http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~otto/>.