Associate Professor School of Biological Sciences Washingon State University Pullman, WA 99164-4236   Phone: 509-335-7180 Fax: 509-335-7192 Email:mwebster@wsu.edu   Ph.D. 1991, Neurobiology and Behavior Cornell University, Ithaca NY RESEARCH INTERESTS: Reproductive Behavior of Birds RESEARCH SUMMARY: Professor Webster's lab combines intensive field observation and experimentation with the use of molecular genetic markers (e.g. microsatellites) to investigate issues in evolution, behavioral ecology, and conservation biology. My own research centers primarily on the evolution of sexually elaborate traits (such as bright plumage coloration) and "cryptic" reproductive behaviors (such as extra pair copulations) in wild populations of birds. Current projects include (1) the hormonal basis and selective consequences of variable male plumage and behavior in Australian fairy-wrens (in collaboration with Dr. Hubert Schwabl), (2) the selective factors shaping female mating patterns in North American warblers and Australian wrens, and (3) the reproductive strategies of brood parasitic ducks. REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS: Webster, M. S. The effects of female mate choice and copulations away from the colony on the fertilization success of male Montezuma oropendolas. Auk 112(3): 659-671. Tuttle, E. M., S. Pruett-Jones and M. S. Webster. Cloacal protuberances and extreme sperm production in Australian fairy-wrens. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 263: 1359-1364. Webster, M. S. Extreme sexual size dimorphism, sexual selection and the foraging ecology of a Neotropical bird. Auk 114(4): 570-580. Emlen, S. T., P. H. Wrege, and M. S. Webster. Cuckoldry as a cost of polyandry in the sex-role reversed wattled jacana, Jacana jacana. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 265: 2539-2364. Webster, M. S. and D. F. Westneat. The use of molecular markers to study kinship in birds: Techniques and questions. pp. 7-35 In R. DeSalle & B. Schierwater (eds), Molecular Analysis of Populations, Species and Higher Taxa. Birkhäuser (Boston). Chuang, H. C., M. S. Webster, and R. T. Holmes. Extra-pair paternity and local synchrony in the black-throated blue warbler. Auk 116(3): 726-736). Webster, M. S. and S. K. Robinson. Courtship disruptions and male mating strategies: examples from female-defense mating systems. American Naturalist, 154(6): 717-729. Chuang-Dobbs, H. C., M. S. Webster, and R. T. Holmes. Paternity and parental care in the Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens). Animal Behaviour 62: 83-92. Chuang-Dobbs, H. C., M. S. Webster, and R. T. Holmes. The effectiveness of mate guarding by male Black-throated Blue Warblers. Behavioral Ecology12(5): 541-546. Webster, M. S., H. C. Chuang-Dobbs and R. T. Holmes. Microsatellite identification of extra-pair sires in a socially monogamous bird. Behavioral Ecology 12 (4): 439-446. Feng, J., C. Lajia, D. J. Taylor, and M. S. Webster. Genetic distinctiveness of endangered dwarf blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur schaeferi): Evidence from mitochondrial control region and Y-linked ZFY intron sequences. Journal of Heredity 92: 9-15. Webster, M. S., P. P. Marra, S. M. Haig, S. Bensch, and R. T. Holmes. Links between worlds: unraveling migratory connectivity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17(2):76-83.