Jo Baker

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100
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Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Areas of interest
Expertise
- Development and application of cutting-edge phylogenetic statistical software packages including: BayesTraits, BEAST, R
- Bioinformatics processing of large sequences including downloading and alignment plus post-processing in other software such as PAML, HyPhy etc.
- Programming languages for biological analysis including R, Python, Perl
- Statistical analyses
Research projects
A unifying theme of all my research is the development, application and integration of contemporary phylogenetic statistical approaches to answering key evolutionary questions. My interests are primarily involved in macro-evolutionary biology, particularly involving large-scale evolutionary trends and patterns. I am also interested in looking at the effects of incorporating extinct and extant diversity into studies of evolutionary biology and ecology.Background
I completed my MSc at the University of Hull where I focused on understanding the characteristics that are likely to have driven the success of mammalian biological invaders such as the grey squirrel. I then moved to the University of Reading where I completed my PhD studying macro-evolutionary biology, including the evolution of mammalian body size. I then completed (as of August 2020) an Early Career Fellowship funded by the Leverhulme Trust at the University of Reading which sought to detect genotype-phenotype links across evolutionary scales. This led me to investigate the factors - both ecological and genetic - that have driven brain size, testes size, and eye shape evolution across all vertebrates. In September 2020 I will be starting on a new project seeking to understand the history of extinct hominins such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, hoping to cast a light on the evolutionary path leading to our own species.Awards and honours
In 2016, I was the Environment theme PhD student researcher of the year at the University of Reading. I have been invited to teach workshops on phylogenetic comparative methods at all levels, from undergraduate to academics. Organised (along with co-organizers from the University of Cambridge) a symposium at ESEB in Turku, Finland titled "Gene-Phenotype associations across evolutionary scales".
Selected publications
- Bruno C Genevcius, Joanna Baker & Filipe M Bianchi. "Female-driven intersexual coevolution in beetle genitalia" Accepted for publication in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology
- Joanna Baker and Chris Venditti. "Rapid change in mammalian eye shape is explained by activity pattern." Current Biology. (Available Online) doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.017 [journal]
- Joanna Baker, Stuart Humphries, Henry Ferguson-Gow, Andrew Meade, and Chris Venditti. "Rapid decreases in relative testes mass among monogamous birds but not in other vertebrates." Accepted in Ecology Letters. [journal] [Times Article: paywall] [Daily Mail Article] [inews Article]
- Joanna Baker, Andrew Meade, Mark Pagel, and Chris Venditti. "Positive phenotypic selection inferred from phylogenies." Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society 18, no. 1 (2016): 95-115. [journal]
- Richard M. Sibly, Joanna Baker, John M. Grady, Susan M. Luna, Astrid Kodric-Brown, Chris Venditti, and James H. Brown. "Fundamental insights into ontogenetic growth from theory and fish." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.45 (2015): 13934-13939. [journal]
- Isabella Capellini, Joanna Baker, William L. Allen, Sally E. Street, and Chris Venditti. "The role of life history traits in mammalian invasion success." Ecology letters 18, no. 10 (2015): 1099-1107. [journal]
- Joanna Baker, Andrew Meade, Mark Pagel, and Chris Venditti. "Adaptive evolution toward larger size in mammals." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 16 (2015): 5093-5098 [journal] [atlas of science summary]
Publications
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Baker, J.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4904-6934 , Meade, A. , Pagel, M. , Venditti, C. (2021) Nothing wrong with the analysis of clades in comparative evolutionary studies. Systematic Biology , 70 (1). pp. 197-201. ISSN: 1063-5157 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaa067
- Genevcius, B. , Baker, J. , Bianchi, F. , Marvaldi, A. (2020) Female-driven intersexual coevolution in beetle genitalia. Journal of Evolutionary Biology , 33 (7). pp. 957-965. ISSN: 1010-061X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13627
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Venditti, C.
ORCID: 0000-0002-6776-2355 , Baker, J.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4904-6934 , Benton, M.
ORCID: 0000-0002-4323-1824 , Meade, A. , Humphries, S.
ORCID: 0000-0001-9766-6404 (2020) 150 million years of sustained increase in pterosaur flight efficiency. Nature , 587 pp. 83-86. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2858-8
- Baker, J. , Humphries, S. , Ferguson-Gow, H. , Meade, A. , Venditti, C. (2020) Rapid decreases in relative testes mass among monogamous birds but not in other vertebrates. Ecology Letters , 23 (2). pp. 283-292. ISSN: 1461-0248 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.13431
- Baker, J. and Venditti, C. (2019) Rapid change in mammalian eye shape is explained by activity pattern. Current Biology , 29 (6). pp. 1082-1088. ISSN: 0960-9822 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.017
- Baker, J. , Meade, A. , Pagel, M. , Venditti, C. (2016) Positive phenotypic selection inferred from phylogenies. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 118 (1). pp. 95-115. ISSN: 0024-4066 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bij.12649
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Capellini, I.
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Baker, J.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4904-6934 , Allen, W. , Street, S. , Venditti, C. , eds. (2015) The role of life history traits in mammalian invasion success. In: Wiens, J. , (eds.) Ecology Letters , 18 (10). pp. 1099-1107. ISSN: 1461-023X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.12493
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Baker, J.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4904-6934 , Meade, A. , Pagel, M. , Venditti, C. (2015) Adaptive evolution toward larger size in mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 112 (16). pp. 5093-5098. ISSN: 0027-8424 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1419823112
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Sibly, R.
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Baker, J.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4904-6934 , Grady, J. , Luna, S. , Kodric-Brown, A. , Venditti, C. , Brown, J. (2015) Fundamental insights into ontogenetic growth from theory and fish. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 112 (45). pp. 13934-13939. ISSN: 0027-8424 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1518823112