My research fields are at the intersection of evolutionary ecology, ecophysiology and behavioral and environmental ecology. I am broadly interested in the proximate physiological mechanisms underlying variation in phenotypic, behavioral and fitness traits and their plasticity. I want to understand how physiologically-regulated traits enable organismal adaptation to changing environmental conditions and play a part in species interactions, potentially even affecting population processes. I am also interested in how interactions with microbes (gut microbiome) relate to phenotypic variation in wild populations.  I further want to understand more broadly how various early-life environmental conditions affects offspring development and fitness with a specific interest in non-genetic inheritance, such as maternal effects and epigenetics​

Current group members:

Post-docs: Bin-Yan Hsu (UTU), Antoine Stier (UTU)

PhD students: Tom Sarraude (UTU/University of Gronigen), Nina Cossin-Sevrin (UTU)

MSc students: Lotta Holmen (UTU), Mark Verschuuren (NIOO, NL), Lyydia Leino (UTU)

BSc students: Mikaela Hukkanen (UTU)

Visiting:  Coline Marciau 

Interns:

Research group pages: https://sites.utu.fi/ruuskanengroup/