Jocelyn Poissant
Associate Professor
Chair
Contact information
Location
Preferred method of communication
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Research and teaching
Research Interests
- Ecosystem Health
- Wildlife and Zoo Medicine
Research / Scholarly Activities
I am an evolutionary ecologist combining fieldwork with molecular and quantitative genetic approaches to understand how evolutionary forces such as natural selection, sexual selection and dispersal interact with genetic variation to shape phenotypic diversity in wild vertebrate populations. I am interested in both fundamental evolution and applied conservation research.
My current research focusses on the evolutionary ecology and genetics of health in free-living animals, including host-parasite interactions and associated health outcomes.
Research topics
Evolutionary ecology, wildlife health, host-parasite interactions, behavioural ecology, functional ecology, quantitative genetics, genomics, adaptive evolution, conservation.
Publications
2017
28. Bosse M, Spurgin LG, Laine VN, Cole EF, Firth JA, Gienapp P, Gosler AG, McMahon K, Poissant J, Verhagen I, Groenen AM, van Oers K, Sheldon BC, Visser ME, Slate J (2017) Recent natural selection causes adaptive evolution of an avian polygenic trait. Science. 358:365-368.
27. Cabrera D, Andres D, McLoughlin PD, Debeffe L, Medill SA, Wilson AJ, Poissant J (2017) Island tameness and the repeatability of flight initiation distance in a large herbivore. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 95:771-778.
26. Debeffe L, Poissant J, McLoughlin PD (2017) Individual quality and age but not environmental or social conditions modulate costs of reproduction in a capital breeder. Ecology and Evolution. 7:5580-5591.
25. Hogg J, Dunn S, Poissant J, Pelletier F, Byers J (2017) Capital vs. income-dependent optimal birth date in two North American ungulates. Ecosphere. 8:e01766.
24. Timonin ME, Poissant J, McLoughlin PD, Hedlin CE, Rubin JE (2017) A survey of the antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolated from Sable Island horses. Canadian Journal of Microbiology. 63:246-261.
2016
23. Poissant J, Morrissey MB, Gosler AG, Slate J, Sheldon BC (2016) Multivariate selection and intersexual genetic constraints in a wild bird population. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 29:2022-2035.
22. Debeffe L, McLoughlin PD, Medill SA, Stewart K, Andres D, Shury T, Wagner B, Jenkins E, Gilleard JS, Poissant J (2016) Negative covariance between parasite load and body condition in a population of feral horses . Parasitology 143:983-997.
21. Wilson AJ, Poissant J (2016) Quantitative genetics in natural populations. Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology. Academic Press, Oxford. pp. 361-371.
2015
20. Santure A, Poissant J, De Cauwer I, van Oers K, Robinson M, Quinn J, Groenen M, Visser M, Sheldon B, Slate J (2015) Replicated analysis of the genetic architecture of quantitative traits in two wild great tit populations . Molecular Ecology 24:6148-6162.
19. Miller JM*, Poissant J*, Malenfant R, Hogg JT, Coltman DW (2015) Temporal dynamics of linkage disequilibrium in two populations of bighorn sheep . Ecology and Evolution 5:3401-3412. *Joint first authors.
2014
18. Edward DA, Poissant J, Wilson AJ, Chapman T (2014) Sexual conflict and interacting phenotypes: a quantitative genetic analysis of fecundity and copula duration in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 68:1651-1660.
17. Miller JM, Malenfant RM, David P, Davies CS, Poissant J, Hogg GT, Festa-Bianchet M, Coltman DW (2014) Estimating genome-wide heterozygosity: effects of demographic history and marker type. Heredity 112:240-247.
2013
16. Santure AW, De Cauwer I, Robinson MR, Poissant J, Sheldon BC, Slate J (2013) Genomic dissection of variation in clutch size and egg mass in a wild great tit (Parus major) population. Molecular Ecology 22:3949-3962. Featured in Molecular Ecology News and Views: Edwards SV (2013) Next-generation QTL mapping: crowdsourcing SNPs, without pedigrees. Molecular Ecology 22:3885-3887.
15. Poissant J, Réale D, Martin JGA, Festa-Bianchet M, Coltman DW (2013) A quantitative trait locus analysis of personality in wild bighorn sheep. Ecology and Evolution 3:474-481.
2012
14. Miller JM, Poissant J, Hogg JT, Coltman DW (2012) Genomic consequences of genetic rescue in an insular population of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Molecular Ecology 21:1583-1596. Featured in Molecular Ecology News and Views: Gompert Z (2012) Population genomics as a new tool for wildlife management. Molecular Ecology 21:1542-1544.
13. Poissant J , Davis CS, Malenfant R, Hogg JT, Coltman DW (2012) QTL mapping for sexually dimorphic fitness-related traits in wild bighorn sheep. Heredity 108:256-263. Featured in Heredity’s September 2011 podcast: http://www.nature.com/hdy/podcast/index.html
2011
12. Shafer ABA, Poissant J, Côté SD, Coltman DW (2011) Does reduced heterozygosity influence dispersal? A test using a spatially structured alpine ungulate. Biology Letters 7:433-435.
11. Poissant J, Davis CS (2011) Isolation and characterization of ten polar bear (Ursus maritimus) microsatellite loci and cross-amplification in other Ursidae. Conservation Genetics Resources 3:637-639.
10. Miller JM, Poissant J, Kijas JW, the International Sheep Genomics Consortium, Coltman DW (2011) A genome-wide set of SNPs detects population substructure and long range linkage disequilibrium in wild sheep. Molecular Ecology Resources 11:314-322.
2010
9. Poissant J , Hogg JT, Davis CS, Miller JM, Maddox J, Coltman DW (2010). Genetic linkage map of a wild genome: genomic structure, recombination and sexual dimorphism in bighorn sheep. BMC Genomics 11: 524.
8. Poissant J, Wilson AJ, Coltman DW (2010) Sex-specific genetic variance and the evolution of sexual-dimorphism: a systematic review of cross-sex genetic correlations. Evolution 64:97-107.
2009
7. Poissant J, Shafer ABA, Davis CS, Mainguy J, Hogg JT, Côté SD, Coltman DW (2009) Genome-wide cross-amplification of domestic sheep microsatellites in bighorn sheep and mountain goats. Molecular Ecology Resources9:1121-1126.
6. Poissant J, Coltman DW (2009) The ontogeny of cross-sex genetic correlations: an analysis of patterns. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22:2558-2562.
5. Réale D, Martin J, Coltman DW, Poissant J, Festa-Bianchet M (2009) Male personality, life-history strategies and reproductive success in a promiscuous mammal. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22:1599-1607.
2008
4. Poissant J, Wilson AJ, Festa-Bianchet M, Hogg JT, Coltman DW (2008) Quantitative genetics and sex-specific selection on sexually dimorphic traits in bighorn sheep. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 275:623-628.
2007
3. Moghadam HK, Poissant J, Fotherby H, Haidle L, Ferguson MM, Danzmann RG (2007) Quantitative trait loci for body weight, condition factor and age at sexual maturation in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus): comparative analysis with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Molecular Genetics and Genomics 277:647-661.
2006
2. Bourbonnais-Spear N, Poissant J, Cal V, Arnason TJ (2006) Culturally important plants from Southern Belize: Domestication by Q’eqchi’ Maya healers and conservation. Ambio 35:138-140.
2005
1. Poissant J, Knight TW, Ferguson MM (2005) Nonequilibrium following landscape rearrangement: the relative contribution of past and current hydrological landscapes on the genetic structure of a stream-dwelling fish. Molecular Ecology 14:1321-1331.