The Wilsterman Lab will open its doors at Colorado State University in Fall 2022!

We are a reproductive physiology lab with an interest in life history evolution.​

The Wilsterman Lab is particularly interested in the physiology that constrains reproductive output and the mechanisms that are responsible for variation in reproductive traits among and within species. We ask questions about two different types of variation in reproduction:
  1. What systems underlay stable variation in reproductive function (including adaptive variation in reproductive function)?
  2. Which cues and physiological systems does mom use to control her investment across a reproductive cycle (i.e., individual variation in investment)?
We combine neuroendocrinology, cell biology, evolutionary physiology, and functional genomics approach for both in vivo and in vitro systems to identify mechanisms underlying ecologically-relevant phenotypic variation. 

We're recruiting! Spread the word and get in touch!

If physiology, reproduction, and/or a supportive & inclusive lab environment sounds exciting to you - please reach out to me!
>> kathrynwilsterman[at]gmail.com <<
We're bringing on graduate students and undergraduates starting in Fall 2022.
We will also be hiring a lab manager joint with the Williams Lab for Fall 2022!

Dr. Kate Wilsterman

Idea generator, generally good with a pipette, pep talk expert
​CV (Updated 08/2021)
  • Currently enjoying my final year as a post-doctoral fellow with Drs. Zachary Cheviron and Jeffrey Good at University of Montana. My primary focus is on understanding how altitude adaptation affects the establishment and development of the placenta and fetus using the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Our data are generating new insight into placental development and the way in which natural selection for altitude adaption must also modify reproductive function. The Wilsterman Lab will continue this work by developing cell culture and experimental models to dissect the molecular biology underlying gene network plasticity in the placenta!
  • I am keenly interested in the physiology relevant to evolution of reproductive traits, especially litter size, phenology, and phenological plasticity. Deer mice offer a tractable system to study landscape-level variation in these traits. We're excited to establish field sites in the Front Range to start pursuing these questions.

Collaborators