Anja Marie Westram
Forsker
Fakultet for biovitenskap og akvakultur
Kompetanseområder
Biodiversity
I am an evolutionary biologist studying processes generating biological diversity €“ adaptation and speciation €“ and particularly their genomic basis and spatial patterns. I obtained my PhD from Eawag / ETH Zürich in Switzerland, and went on to be a postdoc at the University of Sheffield (UK) and the Institute of Science and Technology (ISTA) in Austria. I am currently a researcher at Nord University.
I use the marine snail Littorina saxatilis as a model system. L. saxatilis occurs on rocky shores and shows adaptation to its local environment on remarkably small scales. For example, large, thick-shelled snails (adapted to crab predation) occur only meters away from small thin-shelled snails (adapted to wave exposure). What mechanisms and processes drive such adaptations? And how can new species emerge from such locally adapted populations? These are the main questions driving my research. My team and I combine field surveys, morphological, physiological and behavioural phenotyping, analyses of various genomic data sets, and computer simulations / theory to address them.
Our current project investigates the genomic basis of temperature adaptation in L. saxatilis. Understanding how animals can adapt to different temperature regimes is crucial in times of anthropogenic climate change. L. saxatilis experiences both very small-scale temperature gradients (along the height of individual rocks) and large-scale latitudinal temperature change (across its distribution range from northern Norway to Portugal). Using experiments, lab crosses and genomic datasets, we aim to find the genomic regions that enable temperature adaptation and to compare different locations and geographical scales.
I am currently (co)supervising a team of two PhD students, one intern and one postdoc at Nord University and ISTA. At Nord University, we are part of the Landscape Genomics Group.
I am also active in several volunteer groups aiming to reduce the environmental impact of research and communicating aspects of the climate crisis to scientists and non-scientists.
Projects
At the Landscape Genomics Group, we study the evolutionary ecology and population genetics of various species across large and ecologically diverse landscapes. For an overview of research projects, check our webpage.
Publications
Google Scholar
2025
Phenotypic Divergence and Genomic Architecture Between Parallel Ecotypes at Two Different Points on the Speciation Continuum in a Marine Snail 2025 Molecular Ecology - Francesca Raffini, Aurélien De Jode, Kerstin Johannesson, Rui Faria, Zuzanna B. Zagrodzka, Anja Marie Westram, Juan Galindo, Emilio Rolán‐Alvarez, Roger K. Butlin
Short INDELs and SNPs as markers of evolutionary processes in hybrid zones 2025 Journal of Evolutionary Biology - Samuel Perini, Kerstin Johannesson, Roger K. Butlin, Anja Marie Westram
2024
Diverse pathways to speciation revealed by marine snails 2024 Trends in Genetics - Kerstin Johannesson, Rui Faria, Alan Le Moan, Marina Rafajlović, Anja Marie Westram, Roger K. Butlin, Sean Stankowski
The genetic basis of a recent transition to live-bearing in marine snails 2024 Science - Sean Stankowski, Zuzanna B. Zagrodzka, Martin D. Garlovsky, Arka Pal, Daria Shipilina, Diego Garcia Castillo, Hila Lifchitz, Alan Le Moan, Erica Helen Leder, James Reeve, Kerstin Johannesson, Anja Marie Westram, Roger K. Butlin
Predicting rapid adaptation in time from adaptation in space: A 30-year field experiment in marine snails 2024 Science Advances - Diego Garcia Castillo, Nick Barton, Rui Faria, Jenny Larsson, Sean Stankowski, Roger Butlin, Kerstin Johannesson, Anja Marie Westram
2023
The Impact of Chromosomal Rearrangements in Speciation: From Micro-to Macroevolution 2023 Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology - Kay Lucek, Mabel D. Giménez, Mathieu Joron, Marina Rafajlović, Jeremy B. Searle, Nora Walden, Anja Marie Westram, Rui Faria
How chromosomal inversions reorient the evolutionary process 2023 Journal of Evolutionary Biology - Emma L. Berdan, Nicholas H. Barton, Roger Butlin, Brian Charlesworth, Rui Faria, Inês Fragata, Kimberly J. Gilbert, Paul Jay, Martin Kapun, Katie E. Lotterhos, Claire Mérot, Esra Durmaz Mitchell, Marta Pascual, Catherine L. Peichel, Marina Rafajlović, Anja Marie Westram, Stephen W. Schaeffer, Kerstin Johannesson, Thomas Flatt
Whole-genome phylogeography of the intertidal snail Littorina saxatilis 2023 Biological Journal of the Linnean Society - Sean Stankowski, Zuzanna B. Zagrodzka, Juan Galindo, Mauricio Montaño-Rendón, Rui Faria, Natalia Mikhailova, April M. H. Blakeslee, Einar Arnason, Thomas Broquet, Hernán E Morales, John W. Grahame, Anja Marie Westram, Johannesson Kerstin, Roger K. Butlin
2022
Reproductive isolation, speciation, and the value of disagreement: A reply to the commentaries on ‘What is reproductive isolation?’ 2022 Journal of Evolutionary Biology - Anja Marie Westram, Sean Stankowski, Parvathy Surendranadh, Nicholas H. Barton
Genetic architecture of repeated phenotypic divergence in Littorina saxatilis ecotype evolution 2022 Evolution - Eva L. Koch, Mark Ravinet, Anja Marie Westram, Kerstin Johannesson, Roger K. Butlin
What is reproductive isolation? 2022 Journal of Evolutionary Biology - Anja Marie Westram, Sean Stankowski, Parvathy Surendranadh, Nick Barton
Very short mountings are enough for sperm transfer in Littorina saxatilis 2022 Journal of molluscan studies - Samuel Perini, Roger K. Butlin, Anja Marie Westram, Kerstin Johannesson
Differing associations between sex determination and sex-linked inversions in two ecotypes of Littorina saxatilis 2022 Evolution Letters - Katherine E. Hearn, Eva L. Koch, Sean Stankowski, Roger K. Butlin, Rui Faria, Kerstin Johannesson, Anja Marie Westram
Ten years of demographic modelling of divergence and speciation in the sea 2022 Evolutionary Applications - Aurelien De Jode, Alan Le Moan, Kerstin Johannesson, Rui Faria, Sean Stankowski, Anja Marie Westram, Roger K. Butlin, Marina Rafajlovic, Christelle Fraisse
Inversions and parallel evolution 2022 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences - Anja Marie Westram, Rui Faria, Kerstin Johannesson, Roger Butlin, Nick Barton
Parthenogenesis in Darevskia lizards: A rare outcome of common hybridization, not a common outcome of rare hybridization 2022 Evolution - Susana Freitas, Anja Marie Westram, Tanja Schwander, Marine Arakelyan, Çetin Ilgaz, Yusuf Kumlutas, David James Harris, Miguel A. Carretero, Roger K. Butlin
2021
Unboxing mutations: Connecting mutation types with evolutionary consequences 2021 Molecular Ecology - Emma L. Berdan, Alexandre Blanckaert, Tanja Slotte, Alexander Suh, Anja Marie Westram, Inês Fragata
Using replicate hybrid zones to understand the genomic basis of adaptive divergence 2021 Molecular Ecology - Anja Marie Westram, Rui Faria, Kerstin Johannesson, Roger K. Butlin
Genetic variation for adaptive traits is associated with polymorphic inversions in Littorina saxatilis 2021 Evolution Letters - Eva Koch, Hernan E Morales, Jenny Larsson, Anja Marie Westram, Rui Faria, Alan R Lemmon, E Moriarty Lemmon, Kerstin Johannesson, Roger K. Butlin
2025
CHIPOLATA – Climate change and harvesting impacts on the pelagic fish community of Lake Tanganyika 2025 OIKOS Norway 2025: Ecological Frontiers: connecting land and sea in a changing climate - Joost A. M. Raeymaekers, Polina Apel, Rashidi Abdullateef Bilali, Noella Bugabanga Nabintu, Fidel Muterezi Bukinga, Karen Chilyabufu, Christine Cocquyt, Kristiaan Hoedemakers, Kabundula Kahilu, Simon Kambale Mukerania, Moise Kimanuka Katanda, Cyprian Katongo, Jeppe Kolding, Lawrence Makasa, Roksana Majewska, Ivain Martinossi-Allibert, Joseph Mbirize Ndalozibwa, Leona Johanna M Milec, Gloria Mulimbwa, Mulimbwa N’Sibula, Joel Ogwang, Deepti Manjari Patel, Mabvuto Phiri, Elysée Nzigire Rutakaza, Lucia Maria Sainz Escudero, Jouko Sarvala, Ilona Strammer, Maarten Van Steenberge, Anja Marie Westram, Rita Wolf, Fred Zulu, Catherine E. Wagner
Comparison of indicators for genetic diversity in species with contrasted life-history traits and evolutionary scenarios 2025 Oikos Norway 2025, Bodø, Norway - Marie-Gabrielle Harribey, Joachim Mergeay, Anja Marie Westram, Xiatong Cai, Julia Geue, Leslie Robert Noble, Frédéric Raspail, Peter Galbusera, Sean Hoban, Alexander Kopatz, Linda Laikre, Gernot Segelbacher, Cristiano Vernesi, Christina Hvilsom, Joost A. M. Raeymaekers, Myriam Heuertz, Pauline Garnier-Géré
Genetic Indicators & Effective Population Size Stakeholder Workshop 2025 GINAMO (Genetic Indicators for Nature Monitoring) Ne & Genetic Indicators Stakeholder Workshop Norway, Trondheim, Norway - Alexander Kopatz, Joost A. M. Raeymaekers, Anja Marie Westram, Leslie Robert Noble, Julia Geue, Christina Ritzl Vejlgaard, Lucrezia Gorini, Stine Svalheim Markussen, Bernt-Erik Sæther
International Ne-symposium 2025 Challenges & Solutions in Assessing Effective Population Size, Trondheim, Norway - Alexander Kopatz, Joost A. M. Raeymaekers, Anja Marie Westram, Leslie Robert Noble, Julia Geue, Christina Ritzl Vejlgaard, Lucrezia Gorini, Stine Svalheim Markussen, Bernt-Erik Sæther
2024
How can DNA legacy datasets contribute to developing best practices for CBD genetic diversity indicator estimation? 2024 6th European Conservation Genetics Meeting. How can research support pragmatic conservation policies? - Marie-Gabrielle Harribey, Joachim Mergeay, Gernot Segelbacher, Anja Marie Westram, Peter Galbusera, Alexander Kopatz, Cristiano Vernesi, Leslie Robert Noble, Frédéric Raspail, Sean Hoban, Myriam Heuertz, Garnier-Géré Pauline, Joost A. M. Raeymaekers
2022
Professor Kerstin Johannesson–winner of the 2022 Molecular Ecology Prize 2022 Molecular Ecology - Anja Marie Westram, Roger Butlin
2021
Hybrid zones 2021 - Sean Stankowski, Daria Shipilina, Anja Marie Westram