Reconstructing Evolutionary Histories
I produce hypotheses of the evolutionary relationships of living things. These hypotheses, known as phylogenies, are the basis of much of organismal and comparative biology. I am interested in how different models of molecular and morphological evolution influence our understanding of evolutionary relationships, as well as how we can best apply fossil calibrations to date the Tree of Life. My lab focuses on the evolution of ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii), a clade of more than 35,000 species that has colonized virtually every habitat on the planet. However, I am not tied to any one study system, and have worked on projects focusing on everything from Jurassic lizards to Pleistocene mammals to Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs.
Major Transitions in the Phenotype
I am very interested in the origin and evolution of unique phenotypes. One of the central topics I hope to interrogate over the course of my graduate studies is evolvability: the capacity of a lineage to produce heritable, adaptive variation. Using a combination of techniques, including high-resolution computed tomography, geometric morphometric analyses, and likelihood and Bayesian MCMC ancestral state reconstructions, I have worked to integrate knowledge from fossils and recently collected specimens to study phenotypic innovation.
Genomic Substitution and Evolutionary Stasis
I have become fascinated with how the genome itself evolves, and have investigated rates of evolution and patterns of speciation in ancient, species-poor lineages to get a better understanding of the variability of genomic evolution across living things.