Education:
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2006-2008, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK.
Ph.D. Biological Sciences. 2006. University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD.
M.S. Applied Ecology and Conservation Biology. 2002. Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD.
B.S.Biology. 1996. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA.

My research program is interdisciplinary and includes aspects of molecular and evolutionary ecology, population/community genetics, molecular evolution, and behavioral ecology. This research focuses on two primary goals: (1) to study the evolutionary histories of populations and species using DNA sequences; and (2) to study the influence of natural selection on non-coding DNA.

I use DNA sequences from multiple loci to study the history of community assembly in the Northern hemisphere. Fossil records indicate a bias in the direction of intercontinental colonization for Holarctic mammals (from Eurasia into North America), and recent genetic evidence also supports this bias for a variety of other taxonomic groups. Currently, I am studying the population genetics of five species and one species pair of ducks, each distributed across North America and Eurasia, to test for this colonization bias. Using methods based on coalescent theory, I am testing models of evolution that include population size changes, gene flow, and divergence times. These methods allow explicit tests for bottlenecks that might have been associated with a colonization event.
                   
I also use a combination of empirical and simulated data to address two fundamental questions in population genetics: (1) how often does non-coding DNA deviate from expectations under selective neutrality; and (2) how does violating the assumption of neutrality influence inferences of evolutionary histories? Inferring evolutionary histories using DNA polymorphisms is now common practice, but many methods in population genetics (especially those based on coalescent theory) assume that the loci examined are selectively neutral. Population-level studies often focus on non-coding DNA, such as nuclear introns that are presumed to be neutral. However, selection acting directly on polymorphisms within exons can also influence closely linked introns through ‘genetic hitch-hiking’ or ‘genetic draft’. Non-neutral evolution can potentially result in serious biases in estimates of population-level parameters but has received insufficient attention in population-level studies. I am using the comparative, multilocus dataset from the six species of Holarctic ducks described above to address questions of selective neutrality.

Representative Publications:

Peters, J.L., Y. Zhuravlev, I. Fefelov, E.M. Humphries, and K.E. Omland. 2008. Multilocus phylogeography of a Holarctic duck: colonization of North America from Eurasia by gadwalls (Anas strepera). Evolution 62:1469-1483.
Kondo, B., J.L. Peters, B.B. Rosensteel, and K.E. Omland. 2008. Coalescent analyses of multiple loci support a new route to speciation in birds. Evolution 62:1182-1191.
Peters, J.L., Y. Zhuravlev, I. Fefelov, A. Logie, and K.E. Omland. 2007. Nuclear loci and coalescent methods support ancient hybridization as cause of mitochondrial paraphyly between gadwall and falcated duck (Anas spp.). Evolution 61:1992-2006.
Peters, J.L., and K.E. Omland. 2007. Population structure and mitochondrial polyphyly in North American gadwalls (Anas strepera). Auk 124:444-462.
Omland, K.E., J.M. Baker, J.L. Peters. 2006. Genetic signatures of intermediate divergence: population history of Old and New World Holarctic ravens (Corvus corax). Molecular Ecology 15:795-808.
Peters, J.L., W. Gretes, and K.E. Omland. 2005. Late Pleistocene divergence between eastern and western populations of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) inferred by the ‘isolation with migration’ coalescent method. Molecular Ecology 14:3407-3418.
Peters, J.L., K.G. McCracken, Y.N. Zhuravlev, Y. Lu, R.E. Wilson, K.P. Johnson, and K.E. Omland. 2005. Phylogenetics of wigeons and allies (Anatidae: Anas): the importance of sampling multiple loci and multiple individuals. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35:209-224.
Peters, J.L., G.L. Brewer, and L.M. Bowe. 2003. Extrapair paternity and breeding synchrony in gadwalls (Anas strepera) in North Dakota. Auk 120:883-888.