Joanna Kelley | CAS in the Media | Washington State University

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Researcher sees survival story in fly’s small genome

August 13, 2014

Joanna Kelley, assistant professor of biology — Joanna Kelley

Scientists have just sequenced the genome of a fly native to Antarctica, the coldest, driest and windiest place on the planet, a finding that may lead to a wider understanding of how these bugs evolved to cope with the environment.

The fly, named Belgica antarctica, is a survivor, or as Washington State University evolutionary biologist Joanna Kelley likes to put it…an extremophile.

“This fly has to withstand freezing, extreme temperature changes so in the Antarctic summer it’s on the rocks and those are getting quite hot,” Kelley said. “But imagine the Antarctic winter, it’s very dark and cold. There’s a lot of UV [ultraviolet] radiation. There’s dehydration. And anything you can imagine as an extreme pressure, this fly probably encounters it.”

Continue reading the Voice of America story to learn more about how the surprisingly small DNA footprint of this polar insect may help it survive. (Audio also available.)

Kelley’s research was also featured on BBC Nature News, International Business Times, News Tonight Africa, Tech Times, Nature World News, WSU News, and many other online news outlets.

Biologist named one of top 20 promising young investigators

February 4, 2014

GenomeWeb’s 8th annual list of top Young Investigators included Joanna Kelley, an assistant professor of biology in the WSU School of Biological Sciences. As a mathematics and biology undergraduate, Kelley focused her Ph.D. work on genetic adaptation. In her lab at Washington State University, research focuses on genetic changes as populations diverge and adapt to the (sometimes extreme) environments they encounter. Among other projects, her lab is comparing populations of fish that have adapted to live in hydrogen sulfide-rich waters and studying the genome of an Antarctic fly.

GenoneWeb profile (email registration required)
WSU Daily Evergreen
WSU News
The Kelley Lab at WSU

New CAS faculty identified as promising young investigator

January 7, 2014

Joanna Kelley, a new assistant professor in biological sciences, is one of 20 scientists worldwide named as promising young investigators in the annual list compiled by GenomeWeb publisher.

The early-career honorees were recommended by established principal investigators. Kelley was recommended by Carlos Bustamante, Stanford University School of Medicine.