Degrees:
B.A., Wittenberg University, 2005, Biology
M.S., Central Michigan University, 2012, Conservation Biology
Ph.D., Purdue University, 2015, Wildlife Genetics

Expertise:
Willoughby is an expert in molecular ecology and evolution, conservation genetics, genomics, and epigenomics. Her work bridges ecological and evolutionary perspectives to address how populations persist under environmental change.
Teaching Responsibilities: Wildlife Conservation History and Law, Conservation Genetics
Research Interests: Willoughby’s research investigates how wild populations evolve in response to environmental pressures, including habitat fragmentation, disease and climate change. She focuses on the mechanisms by which genetic and epigenetic variation influence population resilience, and how these processes can be applied to conservation and management of at-risk species.
Current Technologies/Research Methodologies: Willoughby’s group uses next-generation sequencing approaches, epigenomic profiling and bioinformatics pipelines for population and conservation genomics. Her lab also develops and applies agent-based models and computational simulations to examine disease dynamics, evolutionary processes and conservation outcomes. Additional approaches include pedigree reconstruction, kinship estimation and integration of genetic, ecological and geospatial datasets.