Christian Gagnon

Graduated January 2024

Research Interests

Genomics, genetics, bioinformatics, evolution, primates, brown adipose

About

My research broadly focuses on better understanding the evolution of complex traits. For my dissertation research I am using vervet monkeys as a model to study the evolution of brown adipose tissue and cold-induced non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) mediated via UCP1. My research takes a genomic approach to answering questions about the selective pressures which have shaped the UCP1 gene in primates and how local ecology impacts the genetic variation across vervet populations. 

Awards & Grants

• Senior Core Curriculum Writing Fellow. $13,133 (Fall 2023 only)
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. $2500. (2023).
• Leakey Foundation research Grant. $14,000 (Dec 2022).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. $3500. (2022).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. $3000. (2021).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. $2000. (2020).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. $4000. (2019).

Publications

• Gagnon, CM, Svardal H, Jasinska AJ, Freimer NB, Grobler PJ, Turner TR, Schmitt, CA. (2022). “Evidence of Selection in the UCP1 Gene Region Suggests Local Adaptation to Irradiance Rather Than Cold Temperatures in Savanna Monkeys (Chlorocebus Spp.) Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289, 20221254. 
• Grube, N. T., Gagnon, C. M., & Zarate, M. A. (2022). Primatology and evolutionary anthropology at the 91st meeting of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. 
• Harwell, F. S., Gagnon, C. M., & Henderson, W. B. (2022). The seventh annual northeastern evolutionary primatologists (NEEP) meeting: Back in‐person in Boston, MA!. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 31(1), 5-8. 
• Steiper, ME, Grube, NT, & Gagnon, CM. (2021). “Elevated diversity in loci linked to facial morphology is consistent with the hypothesis that individual facial recognition is important across hominoids. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 174(4), 785-791.