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Kathleen Donohue

Professor of Biology
Biology
Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708-0338
130 Science Drive, Room 226, Duke Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


We investigate the genetic basis of adaptation, including the evolution of phenotypic plasticity and maternal effects, the adaptive value of epigenetic modifications, niche construction, dispersal, and mechanisms of multilevel natural selection.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of Biology · 2012 - Present Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published May 22, 2026
How a Biologist is Reimagining Agriculture
Published April 16, 2013
Biologist Kathleen Dononue Wins Guggenheim Fellowship

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Recent Publications


Rapid adaptation and extinction in synchronized outdoor evolution experiments of <i>Arabidopsis</i>.

Journal Article Science (New York, N.Y.) · March 2026 Climate change forces species to adapt rapidly to avoid extinction. To directly observe rapid adaptation and extinction, we conducted synchronized evolution experiments with Arabidopsis thaliana in 30 locations across Western Europe, the Mediterrane ... Full text Cite

The Southeast Indian Ridge: A Hotspot for Cross-Frontal Exchange

Journal Article Journal of Physical Oceanography · May 1, 2025 Cross-frontal exchange facilitated by mesoscale eddies in the lee of major topographic features of the Southern Ocean is fundamental to the global overturning circulation. Despite the outsize importance for meridional heat flux, we lack an accurate estimat ... Full text Cite

A Comparative Study of Velocity and Transport Estimates Along the Oleander Line Between Bermuda and New Jersey

Journal Article Earth and Space Science · April 1, 2025 The Oleander project, a program to monitor upper ocean currents between Bermuda and New Jersey, started in fall 1992, at about the same time modern satellite altimetry began. This study has two purposes. First, it revisits earlier work that compared Oleand ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Demographic and evolutionary consequences of phenological tracking

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2021 - 2025

Epigenetic stability and its evolutionary potential

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2016 - 2023

Genetics Training Grant

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1979 - 2020

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Education


The University of Chicago · 1993 Ph.D.
Stanford University · 1985 B.A.
Stanford University · 1985 M.S.
Stanford University · 1985 B.S.