Members

Ryan Schott – Principal Investigator

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology & Centre for Vision Research, York University

PhD (2018), Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
MSc (2011), Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
HBSc (2008), High Distinction, Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto

Research Focus: The research in my lab generally aims to answer the question of how selection at the molecular level can shape morphological and functional diversity at the organismal level, particularly in the context of vertebrate visual systems. The current long term objective of my research program is to understand the mechanisms and drivers that have led to the vast diversity of vertebrate visual systems that we see in nature today. To accomplish this we leverage an innovative approach to investigate how and why vertebrate visual diversity has evolved across multiple organizational scale using a combination of comparative genomics and transcriptomics, molecular evolutionary analyses, and targeted experiments.

schott@yorku.ca

Taegan Perez – PhD Candidate

HBSc (2020) Distinction, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Toronto
MSc (2021) Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto

Taegan’s research focuses on the molecular evolution of visual genes across the amphibian tree of life. Amphibians provide a remarkable study system to assess the interactions between visual genes and ecological variables such as activity patterns, life history patterns, and behaviours. Providing a direct interface between an organism and its environment, sensory systems like the visual system present an ideal model to study questions like these. As the most threatened vertebrate group, amphibians also hold incredible conservation value, creating unique opportunities for interdisciplinary work. Taegan hopes that by increasing the body of knowledge on how selection at the molecular level has shaped the functional diversity in the amphibian visual system will provide valuable knowledge to inform conservation decisions.  

Previously, Taegan’s research focused on assessing species level diversity of freshwater neotropical ichthyofauna in conservation areas. Species level identification of organisms forms the basis of effective conservation management planning. While both morphological and molecular methodologies for identification exist, accuracy and effectiveness of these methodologies varies depending on the study system being assessed. Taegan’s goal was to assess differing morphological and molecular identification techniques to effectively determine species level diversity of neotropical freshwater fishes within the Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica. Results from this work is being used to inform conservation decisions and management. Taegan is also continuing to build an effective curated DNA barcoding library for this area as part of a long-term project.

Contact: tjmperez@yorku.ca

Website: Taegan JM Perez MSc (wordpress.com)

Jhael Ortega – Master’s Student

Research Focus: Investigating how vision has adapted to different light environments in different groups of reptiles and amphibians by studying different visual and non-visual genes.

Research Focus: An Ecuadorian master’s student brings substantial expertise gained from her undergraduate studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador and her prior leadership in amphibian systematics projects at the QCAZ Zoological Museum, where she meticulously documented over 13 newly discovered frog species.Currently situated in the Schott Laboratory, Jhael’s master’s project delves into the intricate molecular-level analysis of the visual pathway in frogs. This investigation systematically contrasts frogs proficient in vocalization with those that have forfeited this ability, alongside lacking auditory perception. The formulated hypothesis suggests that the visual system might have undergone evolutionary adaptations to compensate for the diminished vocal and auditory functions within this group.Jhael’s research undertakes the meticulous task of identifying molecular adaptations within the visual gene set of these frogs, specifically targeting those correlated with the prevalent diurnal lifestyle characteristic of this amphibian group.

Eren Yigit – Master’s Student

Research Focus: coming soon!

Hasti Shahbazi – RAY Undergraduate Student Researcher: Molecular Evolution, B.Sc.,

Research Focus: Analyzing photoreceptor evolution in frogs using microspectrophotometry (MSP) and skin reflectance data.

Hasti Shahbazi is entering her third year of a Bachelor of Science in Biology at York University. She joined the Schott Lab in May 2024 and is currently investigating how frog species perceive colors in dim light. By comparing microspectrophotometry (MSP) data with skin reflectance data, Hasti aims to understand if and how these species can detect the colors of potential mates under low-light conditions and whether there is significant variation in their photoreceptor responses. Before joining the Schott Lab, Hasti had experience in analytical chemistry with a focus on mass spectrometry, gaining skills in data analysis and laboratory techniques.

Mozhan Yaghmai- York RAY Undergraduate Student Researcher: Bioinformatics (2024) and Honors Thesis Student, B.Sc.,

Research Focus: Using target capture (TC), DNA sequencing, and sequence assembly with molecular pipelines to analyze the evolution of the visual system in frogs.

Mozhan Yaghmai is studying Biomedical Science at York, and is now entering the fourth year of her studies. She joined Dr. Schott’s lab and became part of the team as a RAY student and will work alongside Jhael and Taiye as they aim to improve and perfect their assembly pipeline. They are using TC data from the White et al. (2017) paper to assemble bird visual system genes with the Schott lab’s pipeline, and also using frog TC data with the White’s lab pipeline to compare sequence completeness between pipelines. They aim to refine the assembly pipeline for better frog visual systems gene assembly, enabling comprehensive visual system comparisons to be made among different frog species.