ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY
BYU HAWAII
ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION & BEHAVIOR
WELCOME
Welcome to my website! Herein you will find a discussion of my research interests, teaching experience, my CV, publications, and contact info. I am an Assistant Professor of Biology at Brigham Young University Hawaii. Briefly, my research interests include the evolution of local adaptation, ecological speciation, the dynamics of range expansions and ecological invasions, and the causes and consequences of individual level variation in behavior. I work with a diversity of taxonomic groups, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, social spiders, and fruit flies. I am also a developer for anyFish, a novel software tool for generating 3D fish animations for behavioral research. Please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions you may have.
RESEARCH
ECOLOGY
EVOLUTION
BEHAVIOR
My research is motivated by a desire to understand how inter- and intra-specific variation in variety of traits interacts with the environment to drive the evolution of biodiversity. I do this by using emerging technologies and an integrative approach that includes the generation and analysis of genetic, morphological, and behavioral data to better understand how divergent natural selection drives speciation. For my dissertation research, I used Neotropical livebearing fishes from the genus Brachyrhaphis as a model system to determine how reproductive isolation (RI) accrues as speciation proceeds. I have also played a key role in developing cutting edge software for use in behavioral research (e.g., anyFish). Most recently, I have become interested in the ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of animal personality. For example, how can interindividual behavioral differences drive speciation? How can personality impact patterns of range expansion, and the way by which organisms interact with their environment? I generate high-throughput 'phenomic' and 'ethomic' data using cutting edge techniques to answer these foundational questions in biology.
ECOLOGICAL SPECIATION IN LIVEBEARING FISHES
The processes that drive the origins of biodiversity have always fascinated me. In particular, I am interested in understanding how local adaptation and reproductive isolation evolves as speciation proceeds from start to finish. Using Brachyrhaphis fishes from Central America as a model system, I follow an integrative approach to understand how divergent natural selection drives repeated patterns of divergence in behavior, morphology, and performance, and how this in turn results in reproductve isolation. These species show a remarkable repeated pattern of divergence, due to divergent predation regimes, at different points along the speciation continuum (i.e., from recently diverged populations to 'good' species). Using geometric morphometric techniques, behavioral assays, and cutting edge statistical analyses I discovered that predation drives morphological and behavioral evolution in parallel at different points in the speciation process. I also found strong evidence that morphology drives differences in swimming performance that result in differential fitness in the presence of predators, resulting in strong pre-mating reproductive isolation in the form of immigrant inviability. I am currently using a novel animation platform I helped develop (anyFish, see below) to test for predator driven 'magic-traits.' Also, I have become increasingly interested in the relationship between personality and speciation. I am currently using Brachyrhaphis fish as a case study to evaluation the role of personality in the speciation process. This is an exciting area that is ripe for synthesis, and I am continually open to collaborative relationships in this field.
S.J. Ingley and J.B. Johnson. (2016) Divergent natural selection promotes immigrant inviability at early and late stages of divergence. Evolution doi:10.111/evo.12872.
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S.J. Ingley and J.B. Johnson. (2016) Selection is stronger in early versus late stages of divergence in a Neotropical livebearing fish. Biology Letters. dio:10.1098/rsbl.2015.1022
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S.J. Ingley, *Camarillo, H., *Willis, H., and J.B. Johnson. (2016) Repeated evolution of local adaptation in swimming performance: Population level trade-offs between burst and endurance swimming in Brachyrhaphis freshwater fish. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. DOI: 10.1111/bij.12852​
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S.J. Ingley and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Animal Personality as a Driver of Reproductive Isolation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 29 (7) 369-371 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.04.008
S.J. Ingley, Billman, E.J., Belk, M.C., and Johnson, J.B. (2014) Morphological Divergence Driven by Predation Environment within and between species of Brachyrhaphis Fishes. PLoS ONE 9(2): e90274. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090274
S.J. Ingley, J. Rehm*, and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Size doesn't matter, sex does: a test for boldness in sister species of Brachyrhaphis fishes. Ecology and Evolution 4(22): 4361-4369. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1304.
S.J. Ingley, Billman, E.J., *Hancock, C., and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Repeated geographic divergence in behavior: a case study employing phenotypic trajectory analysis. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 68: 1577-1587 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-014-1767-y
S.J. Ingley, Reina, R., Bermingham, E., and J.B. Johnson. (2015) Phylogenetic analyses provide insights into the historical biogeography and evolution of Brachyrhaphis fishes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 89: 104-114.
DEVELOPING NEW TOOLS FOR BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH
Experimental approaches to studying behaviors based on visual signals are ubiquitous, yet these studies are severely limited by the inability or difficulty of combining realistic models (e.g., live exemplars exhibiting complex behaviour) with the manipulation of signals in isolation. Recently, computer animations have become a promising way to break this trade-off by allowing controlled manipulation of a single visual cue while holding the rest of the stimulus constant. However, computer animations are often prohibitively expensive, difficult to program, and time consuming, thus limiting their utility in behavioral research. Over the past four years, I have been working with an interdisciplinary team to develop anyFish, a free, open source software program that provides a user-friendly alternative for creating fish animations for behavioral research. This program will be potentially transformative in behavioral research because of the experimental flexibility it provides.
L. Chouinard-Thuly, S. Gierszewski, G.G. Rosenthal, S. Reader, G. Rieucau, K.L. Woo, R. Gerlai, C. Tedore, S.J. Ingley, J. Stowers, J.G. Frommen, N.F. Troje, F.L.Dolins & Klaudia Witte. (2017) Technical and conceptual considerations for using animated stimuli in studies of animal behavior. Current Zoology, 63 (1) 5-19.
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Ingley, S.J., M. Rahmani Asl, C. Wu, R. Cui, M. Gadelhak, W. Li, J. Zhang, J. Simpson, C. Hash, T. Butkowski, T. Veen, J.B. Johnson, W. Yan, and G.G. Rosenthal. (2015) anyFish 2: an open-source software platform to generate and share animated fish models to study behaviour. SoftwareX 3-4: 13-21. doi:10.1016/j.softx.2015.10.001
Thor Veen, S.J. Ingley, Rongfeng Cui, Jon Simpson, Mohammad Rahmani Asl, Ji Zhang, Trisha Butkowski, Wen Li, Chelsea Hash, Jerald B. Johnson, Wei Yan, Gil Rosenthal. (2013) anyFish: an open-source software to generate animated fish models for behavioural studies. Evolutionary Ecology Research 15 (3): 361-375
PC: Alex Wild; alexanderwild.com
PC: David Pfennig
CAUSES & CONSEQUENCES OF ANIMAL PERSONALITIES
Recent work has demonstrated that consistent individual differences in behavior (i.e., animal personality) can impact a wide range of ecological and evolutionary processes, such as dispersal and invasion dynamics, information and disease tranmission, and sexual selection. However, little work has focused on the impact of animal personality on the speciation process. Through my work studying speciation and personality in Brachyrhaphis fishes, I have noticed that numerous recently diverged populations or species pairs consistently differ in personality traits. This has caused me to ponder the implications of personality on the speciation process. I have begun to evaluate the role of animal personality as a driver of reproductive isolation in Brachyrhaphis fishes, and hope to shed light on our understanding of this potentially profound consequence of personality.
I also have ongoing collaborations with Jonathan Pruitt of UC Santa Barbara, using a group of social spiders to understand how an individual's personality and social context drive patterns of immigrant inviability, and how thermal environment, social environment, and personality interact to drive differences in individual fitness and colony success.
I am also working in the K. Pfennig Lab at UNC Chapel Hill, evaluating the role of personality in decision making (specifically mate-choice) and range expansion in spadefoot toads (Spea), with projects on invasive Drosophila and invasive Cuban Tree Frogs in the works. More to come!!
S.J. Ingley and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Animal Personality as a Driver of Reproductive Isolation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 29 (7) 369-371 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.04.008
S.J. Ingley, J. Rehm*, and J.B. Johnson. Size doesn't matter, sex does: a test for boldness in sister species of Brachyrhaphis fishes. Ecology and Evolution 4(22): 4361-4369. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1304.
S.J. Ingley, Billman, E.J., *Hancock, C., and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Repeated geographic divergence in behavior: a case study employing phenotypic trajectory analysis. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 68: 1577-1587 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-014-1767-y
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Ingley, S.J., J.N. Pruitt, Inon Scharf & Jessica Purcell. (2016) Social context, but not individual personality, alters immigrant viability in a spider with mixed social structure. Animal Behaviour 120: 153-161 doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.08.009​​
C.T. Goulet, S.J. Ingley (co-first author), Inon Scharf and Jonathan N. Pruitt. (2016) Thermal effects on survival and reproductive performance vary according to personality type. Behavioral Ecology doi: 10.1093/beheco/arw084.
PUBLICATIONS
Notice: By downloading any of the following PDF files, you are effectively requesting a reprint for research or educational purposes. These publications may not be used for commercial purposes under any circumstances, and the definitive version of these journal publications are found on respective publisher websites.
(23) C.N. Keiser, S.J. Ingley, B. Toscano, I. Scharf, and J.N. Pruitt. (2018) Habitat complexity dampens selection on prey personality. Ethology, 124: 25-32. PDF
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ScienceDaily, Futurity, EurekAlert!, Nature Today
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(22) Ingley, S.J. (2017) On the temporal evolution of reproductive barriers. Evolution, 71: 497-498. PDF
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(21) Ingley, S.J. & G. Rosenthal (2017). Mechanisms of assortative mating and ecological speciation. Evolution, 71: 185-186. PDF
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(20) L. Chouinard-Thuly, S. Gierszewski, G.G. Rosenthal, S. Reader, G. Rieucau, K.L. Woo, R. Gerlai, C. Tedore, S.J. Ingley, J. Stowers, J.G. Frommen, N.F. Troje, F.L.Dolins & Klaudia Witte. (2017) Technical and conceptual considerations for using animated stimuli in studies of animal behavior. Current Zoology, 63 (1) 5-19. PDF
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Cover feature, February 2017 special issue.
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(19) Ingley, S.J., J.N. Pruitt, Inon Scharf & Jessica Purcell. (2016) Social context, but not individual personality, alters immigrant viability in a spider with mixed social structure. Animal Behaviour 120: 153-161 PDF
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AAAS EurekAlert!
UPI News
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(18) C.T. Goulet, S.J. Ingley (co-first author), Inon Scharf and Jonathan N. Pruitt. (2016) Thermal effects on survival and reproductive performance vary according to personality type. Behavioral Ecology doi: 10.1093/beheco/arw084. PDF
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(17) Ingley, S.J., and J.B. Johnson. (2016) Selection is stronger in early versus late stages of divergence in a Neotropical livebearing fish. Biology Letters. dio:10.1098/rsbl.2015.1022 PDF
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(16) Ingley, S.J. and J.B. Johnson. (2016) Divergent natural
selection promotesimmigrant inviability at early and late stages
of divergence. Evolution. doi:10.111/evo.12872 PDF
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Cover feature, March 2016 issue.
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(15) Ingley, S.J., *Camarillo, H., *Willis, H., and J.B. Johnson. (2016) Repeated evolution of local adaptation in swimming performance: Population level trade-offs between burst and endurance swimming in Brachyrhaphis freshwater fish. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 119 (4) 1011-1026. PDF
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(14) *Money, D.A., Ingley, S.J., and Johnson, J.B. (2016) Divergent predation environments between two sister species of livebearing fishes predicts boldness, activity, and exploration behavior. International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation 65 (1). PDF
(13) Mugleston, J., Naegle, M., Song, H., Bybee, S.M., Ingley, S.J., Suvurov, A., and M.F. Whiting. (2016) Reinventing the leaf:
Multiple origins of leaf-like wings in katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Invertebrate Systematics 30: 335-352. doi: 10.1071/ISI15055. PDF
(12) Ingley, S.J., M. Rahmani Asl, C. Wu, R. Cui, M. Gadelhak, W. Li, J. Zhang, J. Simpson, C. Hash, T. Butkowski, T. Veen, J.B. Johnson, W. Yan, and G.G. Rosenthal. (2015) anyFish 2: an open-source software platform to generate and share animated fish models to study behaviour. SoftwareX 3-4: 13-21. doi:10.1016/j.softx.2015.10.001. PDF
(11) Ingley, S.J., Reina, R., Bermingham, E., and J.B. Johnson. (2015) Phylogenetic analyses provide insights into the historical biogeography and evolution of Brachyrhaphis fishes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 89: 104-114. PDF
(10) Ingley, S.J. (2015) Sympatric Population of Sister Species of Brachyrhaphis. Journal of Fish Biology. 86: 1163-1170. PDF
(9) Ingley, S.J., J. Rehm*, and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Size doesn't matter, sex does: a test for boldness in sister species of Brachyrhaphis fishes. Ecology and Evolution 4(22): 4361-4369. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1304. PDF
(8) Ingley, S.J. and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Animal Personality as a Driver of Reproductive Isolation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 29 (7) 369-371 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.04.008 PDF
*Selected for Faculty of 1000, May 2014
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Symposium based on paper featured in Science PDF
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(7) Ingley, S.J., Billman, E.J., *Hancock, C., and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Repeated geographic divergence in behavior: a case study employing phenotypic trajectory analysis. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 68: 1577-1587 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-014-1767-y PDF
(6) Ingley, S.J. (2014) An elevational range expansion in a Neotropical livebearing fish from Panama: Implications for adaptive evolution. The Southwestern Naturalist 59(3).
(5) Zúñiga-Vega, J.J., S.J. Ingley, P.J. Unmack, and J.B. Johnson. (2014) Do freshwater ecoregions and continental shelf width predict patterns of historical gene flow in the freshwater fish Poecilia butleri? Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society 112 (3), 339-416; DOI: 10.1111/bij.12289 PDF
(4) Ingley, S.J., Billman, E.J., Belk, M.C., and Johnson, J.B. (2014) Morphological Divergence Driven by Predation Environment within and between species of Brachyrhaphis Fishes. PLoS ONE 9(2): e90274. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090274 PDF
(3) Thor Veen, S.J. Ingley, Rongfeng Cui, Jon Simpson, Mohammad Rahmani Asl, Ji Zhang, Trisha Butkowski, Wen Li, Chelsea Hash, Jerald B. Johnson, Wei Yan, Gil Rosenthal. (2013) anyFish: an open-source software to generate animated fish models for behavioural studies. Evolutionary Ecology Research 15 (3): 361-375. PDF
(2) Ingley, S.J., Bybee, S.M., Tennessen, K.J., Whiting, M.F., Branham, M.A. (2012) Life on the Fly: Phylogenetics and Evolution of Helicopter Damselflies (Odonata: Pseudostigmatidae). Zoologica Scripta, 41, 637-650. PDF
Featured on BBC Nature (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/19048038)
(1) Harvey B. Lillywhite, Alejandro Solórzano, Coleman M. Sheehy III, S. J. Ingley, and Mahmood Sasa. (2010) New Perspectives on the Ecology and Natural History of the Yellow-bellied Sea Snake, Pelamis platurus, in Costa Rica: Does Precipitation Influence Distribution? IRCF Reptiles and Amphibians. 17 (2): 69-72. PDF
Manuscripts in review/preparation:
Lillywhite, H.B., C.M. Sheehy III, and S.J. Ingley. Insular Cottonmouths, Colonial Nesting Birds, and Fish Carrion: A Unique Bird-Snake Mutualism with Report of Historic Disruption. (In prep. for Science)
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Ingley, S.J., K.S. Pfennig, and J.B. Johnson. Ecological selection against immigrants promotes asymmetrical sexual isolation in Brachyrhaphis fishes. (In prep.)
Ingley, S.J. and K.S. Pfennig. Exploration behavior predicts the tendency to engage in facultative hybridization. (In prep.)
Ingley, S.J. and K.S. Pfennig. Variable novelty seeking behavior and implications for a recent niche expansion. (In prep.)
Ingley, S.J. and Billman, E.J. Morphological convergence in sympatric populations of two sister species of livebearing fishes. (In prep. for Copeia)
Belk, M.C., Schaalje, G.B., Ingley, S.J., and J.B. Johnson. Life history divergence in livebearing fishes: effects of divergence time in contrasting predator environments. (In prep. for The American Naturalist).
* Undergraduate co-authors
CURRICULUM VITAE
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Courses taught
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University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Spring 2017
-Evolutionary Mechanisms (BIOL 471)
-Evolutionary Mechanisms Lab (BIOL 471L)
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Instructor of record for senior level course (~30 students) on evolution and associated lab. Prepared and conducted two lecture sessions per week and oversaw two lab sections.
Summer 2017 (anticipated)
-Animal Behavior (BIOL 278)
-Animal Behavior Lab (BIOL 278L)
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Brigham Young University
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Spring 2014
-International Studies Program, Tropical Biology Field Course (Costa Rica), Kennedy Center for International Studies
My duties included organizing and planning a 6-week preparatory course and a 10-day field course and research experience for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. I provided instruction and discussion on the natural history of Costa Rica both in the classroom and the field. I helped plan and carry out the itinerary for the 10-day trip to Costa Rica, and acquired permits for the collection and exportation of ~1000 live tropical fish.
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Winter 2014
-Invited Lecturer, BIO100 Introductory Biology , Department of Biology
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My duties included preparing and conducting lectures on topics including animal behavior, kin selection, and sexual selection for an introductory biology course for non-majors.
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2012-2013
-International Biology Internship Coordinator and Student Advisor (Panama), Kennedy Center for International Studies
My duties included organizing and planning a four-month international biology internship and recruiting and interviewing candidates for the 4 positions available in Mexico and Panama. I also served as a host and advisor for the two students working in Panama. During this time I advised them in project development and execution, and have since advised them in the analysis of and presentation of their results at local and international meetings (e.g., Evolution 2013, 2014) and in peer reviewed journals (e.g., Ecology and Evolution).
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Winter 2011 and 2012; Fall 2012
-Teaching Assistant and Lecturer, BIO420 Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology
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As a teaching assistant for Drs. Jerry Johnson and Michael Whiting, I helped organize and conduct weekly classroom activities, design and grade out of class assignments and exams, and conduct weekly extension activities. Each course consisted of two lectures and one extension activity per week. I conducted the weekly 1-2 hour extension activities and reviews.
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Formal Pedagogical Training
Fall 2016
-College Science Teaching Seminar, UNC Chapel Hill
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Winter 2014
-Practicum in Teaching Biology, BYU
Fall 2013
-Advanced Topics in Science Education, BYU
CONTACT
Spencer J. Ingley, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biology
Department of Natural Sciences
Brigham Young University - Hawaii
55-220 Kulanui St.
BLDG 5, BYUH # 1967
Laie, HI 96762-1293
Email: ingley 'at' byuh 'dot' edu
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