Headshot of Dr.Priscilla A. Erickson

Dr. Priscilla A. Erickson

Assistant Professor of Biology
Curriculum Vitae

  • Profile

    Dr. Priscilla Erickson is an assistant professor of biology at the University of Richmond. She received a B.A. in molecular biology from Kenyon College and a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley. She conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Alan Bergland at the University of Virginia, studying rapid evolution in fruit flies. Her current research focuses on a species of fruit fly that was accidentally introduced to the United States. This tropical species is highly successful in Virginia orchards in the summer but cannot survive sub-freezing winters. The Erickson lab is interested in learning how this species may be adapting to our seasonal environment here in Virginia as a model of how invasive species evolve and succeed in new environments. The lab uses a combination of fieldwork, lab experiments, and genome sequencing to study rapid evolution in these flies. Learn more about the Erickson lab at ericksonlab.net. Dr. Erickson teaches courses in molecular biology, evolution and ecology, genetics and genomics, and bioinformatics.

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  • Publications
    Journal Articles

    PUBLICATIONS: (§ undergraduate mentee, # postbaccalaureate mentee, * undergraduate coauthor, † equal contribution)

    2025 - Gray, Weston †, Logan M Rakes †, Christine Cole § Ansleigh Gunter §, Guanting He §, Samantha Morgan §, Camille R Walsh-Antzak §, Jillian A Yates §, and Priscilla Erickson. “Rapid Wing Size Evolution in African Fig Flies (Zaprionus Indianus) Following Temperate Colonization.” Evolution. https://academic.oup.com/evolut/advance-article/doi/10.1093/evolut/qpaf102/8129715.

    2025 - Walsh-Antzak, Camille §, and Priscilla Erickson. “Strength of Enemy Release from Parasitoids Is Context-dependent in the Invasive African Fig Fly, Zaprionus Indianus.” Ecology and Evolution: e70754. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.70754.

    2025 - Nunez, Joaquin C. B., Marta Coronado-Zamora, Mathieu Gautier, Martin Kapun, Sonja Steindl, Lino Ometto, Katja M. Hoedjes, et al. “Footprints of Worldwide Adaptation in Structured Populations of D. Melanogaster Through the Expanded DEST 2.0 Genomic Resource.” Molecular Biology and Evolution: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.10.622744.

    2025 - Erickson, Priscilla, Alexandra Stellwagen §, Alyssa Bangerter, Ansleigh Gunter §, Nikolaos T Polizos, and Alan O Bergland. “Limited Population Structure but Signals of Recent Selection in Introduced African Fig Fly (Zaprionus Indianus) in North America.” https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.20.614190v2.

    2023 - Rakes, LM, et al. A small survey of introduced Zaprionus indianus (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in orchards of the eastern United States. Journal of Insect Science. https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/23/5/21/7326515

    2023 - Nunez, J. C., Lenhart, B. A., Bangerter, A., Murray, C. S., Yu, Y., Nystrom, T. L., Tern, C., Erickson, P., Bergland, A. O. A cosmopolitan inversion facilitates seasonal adaptation in overwintering Drosophila. Genetics. https://academic.oup.com/genetics/advance-article/doi/10.1093/genetics/iyad207/7459204 

    2022 - Barnard-Kubow, K, Becker D, Murray C, Porter R, Gutierrez G, Erickson PA, Nunez J, et al. “Genetic Variation in Reproductive Investment Across an Ephemerality Gradient in Daphnia Pulex.” Molecular Biology and Evolution 39: 6:msac121. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msac121

    2020 - Erickson PA, Weller CA, Song DY, Bangerter AS, Schmidt P, Bergland AO. Unique genetic signatures of local adaptation over space and time for diapause, an ecologically relevant complex trait, in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Genet. 2020 Nov;16(11):e1009110.

    PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7717581.

    2019 - Stone, HM§, Erickson, PA†, and AO Bergland†. Phenotypic plasticity, but not genetic adaptation, underlies seasonal variation in the cold hardening response of D. melanogaster. Ecology and Evolution 2019. 10(1):217-231. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5887

    2018 - Erickson, PA, Baek, J§, Hart, JC, Cleves, PA, and CT Miller. Genetic dissection of a supergene cluster implicates Tfap2a in stickleback craniofacial evolution. Genetics 209: 591-605. doi: 10.1534/genetics.118.300760

    ** Issue highlight: https://www.genetics.org/content/209/2/NP

    2018 - Cleves, PA, Hart, JC, Agoglia, RM*, Jimenez, MT*, Erickson, PA, Gai, L*, Eisen, MB, and CT Miller. An intronic enhancer of Bmp6 underlies evolved tooth gain in sticklebacks. PLoS Genetics 14 (6): e1007449. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007449

    2018 - Mojaddidi, H*, Fernandez, F*, Erickson PA, and ME Protas. Embryonic and genetic differences between cave and surface-dwelling forms of the isopod crustacean Asellus aquaticus. Scientific Reports, 8: 16589. Doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-34405-8

    2017 - Martin, CH, Erickson, PA, and CT Miller. The genetic architecture of novel trophic specialists: larger effect sizes are associated with exceptional oral jaw diversification in a pupfish adaptive radiation. Molecular Ecology 26: 624-638. doi: 10.1111/mec.13935

    2016 - Erickson, PA, Glazer, AM, Killingbeck, EK*, Agoglia, RM*, Baek, J§, Carsanaro, SM*, Lee, AM, Cleves, PA, Schluter, D, and CT Miller. Partially predictable genetic basis of benthic adaptation in threespine sticklebacks. Evolution. 70(4): 887-902. doi: 10.1111/evo.12897

    2016 - Erickson, PA, Ellis, NA, and CT Miller. Microinjection for transgenesis and genome editing in threespine sticklebacks. Journal of Visualized Experiments. (111), e54055

  • Links
    Erickson Lab Website