I am an evolutionary biologist interested in (i) how environmental perturbations impact long-term health-related phenotypes and (ii) why some individuals are more resiliant/susceptible to adverse conditions.
In my research, I use a combination of genomic approaches, computational techniques, and long-term observational data to understand how the environment 'gets under the skin' to result in phenotypic variation.
Currently, I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Lea Lab at Vanderbilt University, where I work with several small-scale, subsistence-level populations in Kenya, Malaysia, and Bolivia.
Recent publications
Testard C, Shergold C, Acevedo-Ithier A, Hart J, Negron-Del Valle JE, Philips D, Watowich MM, Sanguinetti-Scheck JI, Montague MJ, Snyder-Mackler N, Higham JP, Platt ML, Brent LJN. Natural disaster alters the adaptive benefits of sociality. (2023) Under Review
Watowich MM, Chiou KL, Graves B, Montague MJ, Brent LJN, Higham JP, Horvath JE, Lu A, Martinez MI, Platt ML, Schneider-Crease IA, Lea AJ, Snyder-Mackler N. (2023). Best practices for genotype imputation from low-coverage sequencing data in natural populations. Molecular Ecology Resources
Peterson SM, Watowich MM, Renner L, Martin S, Offenberg E, Lea AJ, Montague MJ, Higham JP, Snyder-Mackler N, Neuringer M, Ferguson B. (2023) Genetic basis of coat color variation in rhesus macaques: a primate model for oculocutaneous albinism. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
Newman LE, Testard C, DeCasien AR, Chiou KL, Watowich MM, Janiak MC, Pavez-Fox MA, Sanchez Rosado MR, Cooper EB, Costa CE, Petersen RM, Montague MJ, Platt ML, Brent LJN, Snyder-Mackler N, Higham JP. (2023) The biology of aging in a social world: insights from free-ranging rhesus macaques. doi: 10.1101/2023.01.28.525893. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Sanchez Rosado MR, Marzan-Rivera N, Watowich MM, Negron-Del Valle AD, Pantoja P, Pavez-Foz MA, Siracusa ER, Negron-Del Valle JE, Phillips D, Ruiz-Lambides A, Cayo Biobank Research Unit, Martinez MI, Montague MJ, Platt ML, Higham JP, Brent LJN, Sariol CA, Snyder-Mackler N (2021). “Immune cell composition varies by age, sex and exposure to social adversity in free-ranging Rhesus Macaques.” Geroscience doi: 10.1101/2021.12.06.471383
Goldman EA, Chiou KL, Watowich MM, Mercer A, Sams SN, Horvath JE, Anderson JA, Cayo Biobank Research Unit, Tung J, Higham JP, Brent LJN, Martínez MI, Montague MJ, Platt ML, Sterner KN, Snyder-Mackler N. “A generalizable epigenetic clock captures aging in two nonhuman primates.” bioRxiv. 2022
Cooper EC, Watowich MM, Beeby N, Whalen C, Montague MJ, Brent LJN, Snyder-Mackler N, Higham J (2022). “Concentrations of unrinary neopterin, but not suPAR, positively correlate with age in rhesus macaques.” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Watowich MM, Chiou KL, Montague MJ, Cayo Biobank Research Unit, Simons ND, Horvath JE, Ruiz-Lambides AV, Martínez MI, Higham JP, Brent LJN, Platt ML, Noah Snyder-Mackler. Natural disaster and immunological aging in a nonhuman primate. PNAS. 2022
Testard, C., Larson SM, Watowich MM, Kaplinsky CH, Bernau A, Faulder M, Ruiz-Lambides AV, Higham JP, Montague MJ, Snyder-Mackler N, Platt ML, Brent LJN. (2021) Rhesus macaques build new social connections after a natural disaster. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.029
Watowich MM, MacLean EL, Hare B, Call J, Kaminski J, Miklósi A, & Snyder-Mackler, N. (2020). Age influences domestic dog cognitive performance independent of average breed lifespan. Animal Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-020-01385-0
Chiou KL, Montague MJ, Goldman EA, Watowich MM, Sams SN, Song J, Horvath JE, Sterner KN, Ruiz-Lambides AV, Martínez MI, Higham JP, Brent LJN, Platt ML, Snyder-Mackler N. Rhesus macaques as a tractable physiological model of human ageing. (2020) Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020 Nov 9;375(1811):20190612. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0612. Epub 2020 Sep 21. PMID: 32951555; PMCID: PMC7540946
