I am interested in the feedbacks between ecological and evolutionary processes and the mechanisms that generate and maintain biodiversity using computational models, multidimensional biodiversity data, and machine learning inference approaches. The goal of this work is to improve our understanding of how biodiversity has accumulated in the past in order to better predict how it will change in the future, specifically in the context of anthropogenic habitat disturbance, biological invasions, and global climate change. A unifying object of investigation in my work is the aggregated intraspecific genetic variation within ecological communities (the genetic structure or “genetic health”) which is critical for conservation and remediation efforts, yet which is poorly understood at this time.
Eco-Evolutionary Synthesis
Understanding the dynamic feedbacks among processes operating on ecological and evolutionary timescales to predict community genetic structure and genetic health.
Biodiversity & Global Change
Applying integrative models to predict vulnerability of biodiversity under climate change.
Promoting Social-Ecological Resilience
Developing models of biodiversity resilience that can inform community-relevant solutions to the biodiversity crisis.
Community Genetic Diversity
Characterizing and analysing the distribution of genetic variation in ecological communities.
Whole-Genome Comparative Phylogeography
Using whole-genome data to investigate historical demography of codistributed taxa.