Rate My Professor Steve Chenoweth

Professor Steve Chenoweth is Head of School of the Environment in the Faculty of Science at the University of Queensland, where he has held a professorial position for many years. Previously, he served as Deputy Associate Dean (Researcher Development) in the Faculty of Science. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from Griffith University. Chenoweth directs a research laboratory focused on genetics and evolutionary biology, particularly examining the relationship between genotypic and phenotypic change during adaptive evolution. This involves investigating the types of selection acting on traits and the functional polymorphisms available for selection. His group employs native and exotic species of Drosophila, alongside collaborative work on other organisms exemplifying key ecological and evolutionary patterns. Methodologies include experimental evolution, field-based selection studies, quantitative genetics, molecular population genetics, genomics, and advanced quantitative statistics and computational biology, offering students diverse skill-building opportunities.

Chenoweth's key research themes encompass sex-specific selection and its evolutionary outcomes, the evolution of sex-biased gene expression, and quantitative genetics of vectors for human infectious diseases like dengue in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. He has produced 99 scholarly works from 1997 to 2024, featuring prominent publications such as 'Selection on Aedes aegypti alters Wolbachia-mediated dengue virus blocking and fitness' (Nature Microbiology, 2019), 'Natural variation at a single gene generates sexual antagonism across fitness components in Drosophila' (Current Biology, 2022), 'Dominance reversals and the maintenance of genetic variation for fitness' (PLOS Biology, 2019), and 'The impacts of positive selection on genomic variation in Drosophila serrata: insights from a deep learning approach' (Molecular Ecology, 2024). His impact is evidenced by securing major grants, including Australian Research Council Discovery Projects like 'Detecting sex differences in natural selection' (2018-2021) and 'Dissecting natural variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression' (2019-2024), NIH-funded projects on Wolbachia-dengue blocking, and the ongoing RCSP Project 3 - Reef Science Innovation (2022-2027). Chenoweth has supervised over 20 PhD completions as principal or associate advisor.