Research Interests

My two main research interests right now are the evolution of late life and experimental evolution in Drosophila. We have studied both the evolution of mortality late in life and now especially the evolution of fecundity late in life. Together with Dr. L.D. Mueller, we have developed evolutionary theories for late life plateaus, sometimes called immortality, and tested them using Drosophila. Reverse evolution and laboratory adaptation have been major topics in experimental evolution that we have pursued. I used to work on the evolution of aging and evolutionary physiology in Drosophila, but these interests are no longer in the forefront of my laboratory's activities. They remain, however, occasional pursuits. I also have some interest in theories for the evolution of sex and the evolution of humans.

Degrees

Bachelor of Science (Honours, Biology) First Class, 1975
Master of Science (Biology), 1976 Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
Doctor of Philosophy, 1979 University of Sussex, England

Honors and Awards

British Commonwealth Scholar, 1976-1979
NATO Science Fellow, 1979-1981
NSERC of Canada University Research Fellow, 1981-1988
President's Prize, American Society of Naturalists, 1992
Excellence in Teaching Award, UCI Biological Sciences, 1996
Busse Prize, World Congress of Gerontology, 1997

Current Graduate Students

Casandra L. Rauser

Current Post-docs

Recent Courses Taught

Bio 94; Diversity of Life
Bio 96; Processes of Ecology and Evolution

Links

Recent Papers

M.R. Rose and L.D. Mueller. 2005/in press. Evolution and Ecology of the Organism. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

M.R. Rose, H.K. Passananti, and M. Matos, Editors. 2004/in press. Methuselah Flies: A Case Study in the Evolution of Aging. World Scientific Publishing, Singapore.

M.R. Rose. 2003. Darwins Welt, Von Forschern, Finken und der Evolution. (R. Stach, trans.) Piper, München.

A.K. Chippindale, A.L. Ngo, & M.R. Rose. In press. The devil in the details of life history evolution: Instability and reversal of genetic correlations during selection on Drosophila development. Journal of Genetics.

J. P. Phelan, M.A. Archer, K.A. Beckman, A.K. Chippindale, T.J. Nusbaum, & M.R. Rose. 2003. Breakdown in Correlations During Laboratory Evolution. I. Comparative Analyses of Drosophila Populations. Evolution 57: 527-535.

M.A. Archer, J.P. Phelan, K.A. Beckman, & M.R. Rose. 2003. Breakdown in Correlations During Laboratory Evolution. II. Selection on Stress Resistance in Drosophila Populations. Evolution 57: 536-543.

M.R. Rose. 2003. Can Human Aging Be Postponed? E-Book, Scientific American.