Ryan Weaver

Ryan Weaver is a mitochondrial physiologist and evolutionary biologist that leads the Evolutionary Bioenergetics Lab at Iowa State University. Our research program is rooted in hypothesis-driven science that investigates the diversity of ways that organisms meet their bioenergetic needs in the face of internal and external stressors. A central question in our research is how some organisms tolerate seemingily harsh environments. This broad question brings a diversity of study systems to the lab including fungal pathogens of plants and animals, copepods, springtails, rotifers, snails, and bumblebees. We also use bioinformatic tools to investigate the evolutionary dynamics and outcomes of the requisite partnership between nuclear and mitochondrial genomes.