Publications

Armstrong, M. L., Erickson, K. L., Hawthorne, R.  & Bay, R. A. (In Review at PNAS). Parallel polygenic urban adaptation despite high gene flow in a coastal marine invertebrate

Armstrong, M. L., Bala, S., & Bay, R. A. (2025). Developmental and Transcriptomic Responses in Sea Urchin Larvae to an Urban‐Associated Pollutant. Ecology and Evolution, 15(9), e72183.

Park, J., Brown, C., Hess, C., Armstrong, M., Rocke, D. M., Galvez, F., & Whitehead, A. (2025). Multiple stressors in the Anthropocene: Urban evolutionary history modifies sensitivity to the toxic effects of crude oil exposure in killifish. Evolutionary Applications, 18(5), e70112.

Rumberger, C., Armstrong, M. (co-first author), Kim, M., Ponce, R., Melendez, J., DeBiasse, M., … & Bay, R. (2025). Selection Over Small and Large Spatial Scales in the Face of High Gene Flow. Molecular Ecology, 34(6), e1770

Meyer, M., Brousil, M., Lee, B., Armstrong, M., Bloom, E., and Crowder, D. (2024) Identifyingdrivers of sewage-associated human pollutants in pollinators across urban landscapes, Apidologie 55(1), 3.

Verrelli, B.C., Carlen, E.J., Miles, L.S., Rosenberg, M.S. … Armstrong, M., et al. (In Prep), An urban perspective to fundamental questions in molecular biology and evolution, Molecular Biology and Evolution: Perspective.

 

 

Presentations

 

Talks:

  • California Academy of Sciences Seminar Series, Invited Speaker (2025) “Adaptation to urbanization in a coastal marine invertebrate”– youtube link 
  • National Evolution Conference (2025) “Stressful cities: how urbanization influences genomic variation in marine invertebrate populations”
  • UC Davis Coastal Marine Science Institute Symposium (2024) “How stressful are cities? Investigating the impacts of urban pollution on marine invertebrates”
  • UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory Friday Forum Series (2024) “Exploring the effects of an urban pollutant on an intertidal marine invertebrate”
  • National Evolution Conference, invited urban evolutionary ecotoxicology symposium speaker (2024) “Exploring the effects of an urban pollutant on an intertidal marine invertebrate”
  • Western Society of Naturalists Conference (2022) “Dynamics of selection and gene flow in Pacific purple sea urchin populations along the California Coast”
  • RCN for Evolving Seas Integration and Training Workshop (2022, working group information) “Teaching Bioinformatics to Undergraduate and Graduate Students: A Case Study”
  • UC Davis Center for Population Biology Seminar (2022) “Stressful Cities: Genomic Variation Across S. purpuratus Populations Associated with Coastal Urban Stress”
  • National Evolution Conference (2021, virtual) “Stressful Cities: Genomic Variation Across S. purpuratus Populations Associated with Coastal Urban Stress”
  • Western Society of Naturalists Conference (2020, virtual) “Stressful Cities: Genomic Variation Across S. purpuratus Populations Associated with Coastal Urban Stress”
  • UC Davis Center for Population Biology Workshop (2020) “Stressful Cities: Genomic Variation Across S. purpuratus Populations Associated with Coastal Urban Stress”
  • WSU Honors College Thesis Defense (2019) “Phenotypic Plasticity as an Explanation of Invasion Success”

 

Poster Presentations:

  • Armstrong,M., Porter, J., and Bay, R. Exploring the Effects of an Urban Pollutant on an Intertidal Marine Invertebrate (2023) National Evolution Conference in Albuquerque, NM
  • Armstrong, M., Smithson, M., and Dybdahl, M. Phenotypic Plasticity as an Explanation of Invasion Success.

      • 2019 National Evolution Conference in Providence, RI.

      • 2019 WSU Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA). 2nd place

  • Armstrong, M., Smithson, M., Hudak, A., and Dybdahl, M. Is Phenotypic Variation Within and Between Populations of a Parthenogenic Invasive Species Adaptive?

      • 2018 Evolution Washington, Idaho, British Columbia and Oregon Conference (EVO-WIBO). undergraduate poster award

      • 2018 WSU SURCA. 1st place

  • Armstrong, M., Smithson, M., and Dybdahl, M. Phenotypic Differences in a Single Clonal Type in Newly Colonized and Established Populations.

      • 2017 National Evolution Conference in Portland, OR.

      • 2017 WSU SURCA. 2nd place

  • Thomas, C., Armstrong, M., Dybdahl, M., and Finger, J. Genotype specific differences in the predicted and observed spread of an invasive species (2016) WSU SURCA

Presenting at the Bodega Marine Lab Friday forum seminar series!

Celebrating my final plasticity poster at Evolution 2019!

Evolution 2023 with support from my fellow urban evolution enthusiasts!