Graduate Students
NICK PEOPLES 
Ph.D. Student, Graduate Group in Population Biology, University of California, Davis (2021-present)
M.S., Biology (Ecology, Behavior, Evolution), Boston University (2021)
B.S., Environmental Sciences, Duke University (2020)
Research Interests: I am interested in exploring the evolution of jaws and teeth in fishes. More specifically, I am interested in combining ecological, morphometric, and genomic data to explore trophic diversification in adaptive radiations. I have a particular interest in the haplochromine cichlids of Lake Victoria. As a member of the Wainwright lab, I hope to learn more about macroevolutionary patterns and explore new ways to quantify fish tooth traits such as shape.
Recent Publications:
Peoples, N., Burns, M.D., Mihalistis, M. & Wainwright, P.C. (2025). Evolutionary lability of a key innovation spurs rapid diversification. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08612-z
Okechi, J.K., Peoples, N., Nyamweya, C.S., Glaser, S. & Kaufman, L. (2022). The ecological health of Lake Victoria (Kenya) in the face of growing cage aquaculture. Conservation Science and Practice. doi: 10.1111/csp2.12826
For more information about Nick’s research, contact him at npeoples@ucdavis.edu.
KHALIL RUSSELL 
Ph.D. Student, Graduate Group in Population Biology, University of California, Davis (2021-present)
B.S., Biology, College of William & Mary (2021)
Research Interests: I am interested in the relationship between morphology and ecology, the role of phenotypic plasticity in this relationship, and how it relates to outcomes of species introductions. I am particularly fascinated by the remarkable morphological plasticity, history of rapid speciation, and widespread invasive success of the family Cichlidae. My undergraduate work examined morphological differences between native and introduced cichlid populations using geometric morphometric methods. In the future, I would like to explore variation in morphological plasticity among fish families and its potential role in adaptive radiations and in determining invasive success.
Recent Publications:
Russell, K.T. and Hilton, E.J. (2025). Morphological Differentiation Between Introduced and Native Populations of Three Species of Cichlid (Perciformes). Ichthyology and Herpetology. https://doi.org/10.1643/i2024011
For more information about Khalil’s research, visit his LinkedIn or contact him at ktrussell@ucdavis.edu.
Postdoctoral Researchers