Tanja Schwander

Tanja Schwander is a Swiss evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of Lausanne. She is known for her work on the Evolution of sexual reproduction.

Tanja Schwander
Born	1978 (1978) Brugg, Switzerland
Nationality	Swiss
Alma mater	University of Lausanne
Awards	John Maynard Smith Prize
Scientific career
Fields	Evolutionary biologist
Institutions	University of Lausanne
Doctoral advisor	Laurent Keller

Education and career

Tanja Schwander obtained her PhD in 2007 from the University of Lausanne on 'Evolution, maintenance and ecological consequences of genetic caste determination in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants'.^[1] Tanja Schwander then took a postdoctoral position at Simon Fraser University in Prof. Bernard J. Crespi's lab, before being hired as an independent researcher at the University of Groningen. In 2013, she moved back to University of Lausanne to begin her own research group.^[2]

Work

Tanja Schwander's work has focused on understanding the consequences of asexuality using Timema stick insects as a model system. Her work has contributed to the current understanding of the Evolution of sexual reproduction, the Paradox of Sex,^[3] and Sexual conflict.

Awards

• 2009. John Maynard Smith Prize of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology^[4]
• 2020. European Research Council Consolidator Grant^[2]

Notable publications

• "Molecular evidence for ancient asexuality in Timema stick insects", Current Biology^[5]
• "Deleterious mutation accumulation in asexual Timema stick insects", Molecular Biology and Evolution^[6]
• "Neutral and selection-driven decay of sexual traits in asexual stick insects", Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences^[7]
• "Consequences of asexuality in natural populations: insights from stick insects", Molecular Biology and Evolution^[8]

References

1. "PhD Tanja Schwander". Retrieved 14 August 2020.
2. "Career Tanja Schwander". Retrieved 14 August 2020.
3. Otto, Sarah P.; Lenormand, Thomas (1 April 2002). "Resolving the paradox of sex and recombination". Nature Reviews Genetics. 3 (4): 252–261. doi:10.1038/nrg761. PMID 11967550. S2CID 13502795.
4. "John Maynard Smith Prize". Retrieved 14 August 2020.
5. Schwander T, Henry L, Crespi BJ (2011). Molecular evidence for ancient asexuality in Timema stick insects. Curr Biol 21: 1129–1134.
6. Henry L, Schwander T, Crespi BJ (2012). Deleterious mutation accumulation in asexual Timema stick insects. Mol Biol Evol 29: 401–408.
7. Schwander T, Crespi BJ, Gries R, Gries G (2013). Neutral and selection-driven decay of sexual traits in asexual stick insects. Proc Biol Sci 280: 20130823.
8. Bast J, Parker DJ, Dumas Z, Jalvingh KM, Tran Van P, Jaron KS, et al. (2018). Consequences of asexuality in natural populations: insights from stick insects. Mol Biol Evol 35: 1668–1677.