Welcome to Episode 10 of Slightly Evolved! Our guest is Dr Lewis Spurgin, a BBSRC research fellow at the University of East Anglia. We talk to Lewis about balancing selection and what forces can help maintain genetic diversity even in small, isolated populations. We also talk about the value of museum samples in studying rapid contemporary evolution, and the different pros and cons of working with experimental systems and natural populations. As the UK officially notifies its intent to leave the European Union, we also discuss what this means for research and researchers in both the UK and in Europe. You can find the article about the a university in the US getting rid of its museum collection to expand a running track here (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/03/29/a-university-is-eliminating-its-science-collection-to-expand-a-running-track/?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.bd84e1ce4910). As always you can contact us via email (
[email protected]), Twitter (twitter.com/slightlyevolpod) or join on our Facebook group (www.facebook.com/groups/664596143711550/). You can find Lewis on Twitter (twitter.com/LewisSpurgin) and read more about his research here (www.lewisspurgin.wordpress.com )