~Self-fertilization and reproductive ecology of ascidians~

My research has focused on marine and evolutionary ecology.  I am especially interested in how and under what circumstances particular reproductive strategies evolve.  Recently I have been looking at self-fertilization in ascidians and how it relates to dispersal potential. 

Ascidians are marine invertebrates in the Phylum Chordata.  As larvae, ascidians exhibit all the traits of chordates but lose most of them once they metamorphose into adults, making them invertebrates.  All ascidians are marine and being sessile hermaphrodites makes them great organisms for studying the evolution of mating systems.

Solitary ascidian Molgula provisionalis

Solitary ascidian Ciona intestinalis

Ciona intestinalis unfertilized egg and two embryos (one at a 2-cell stage and one at a 4-cell stage)