Evan Braswell
Mentor since: 2024
Field of expertise: ecology, evolutionary biology, detecting invasive species
Short biography:
Evan began his scientific career studying ecology and evolutionary biology. He studied the behavioral adaptations insects use to overcome plant defense strategies, the genes responsible for reproductive isolation between incipient species, how long it takes for incipient species to diverge from one another, and how diet shifts impact the molecular evolution of toxin genes. After joining USDA, he has worked on organisms as diverse as viruses, bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals and challenges as diverse as detecting and identifying invasive species, identifying the provenance of invasives to shut down routes of invasion, and developing interventions to suppress populations of invasives. Allowing the question to drive the solution, he has utilized diverse tools ranging from population genetics and gene editing techniques to stable isotopes and nanoparticle chemistry to solve these problems.
USDA APHIS PPQ S&T Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory
Moore Air Base
Email: evan.braswell@usda.gov
Edinburg, TX 78541