Our research seeks to understand patterns of and mechanisms underlying biological diversification. Specifically, we are interested in how ecological and evolutionary processes lead to (i) genetic and phenotypic variation within and among populations, (ii) adaptation to complex selective environments, and (iii) reproductive isolation and the formation of new species. Our research program integrates evolutionary analyses both vertically, across levels of biological organization, and horizontally, across evolutionarily replicated systems exposed to similar selective regimes. Vertical integration is requisite to gain a mechanistic understanding of how genomic variation translates to phenotypes and fitness of organisms in their natural environment. Horizontal integration allows for identifying the factors that determine the balance between convergent and non-convergent evolution. We often approach our questions by focusing on species that inhabit extreme environments and by quantifying genomic, phenotypic, and performance variation along environmental gradients. Members of our lab currently work on a wide variety of projects focusing predominantly on fish and other aquatic organisms.
Current research projects
- Adaptation to extreme environments and hydrogen sulfide biology
- Color polymorphisms and alternative male mating strategies
- Conservation genetics of tropical gar
- Ecological speciation in extreme environments
- Evolutionary and physiological ecology of Poeciliidae
- Evolutionary ecology of the cave molly
- Genital evolution
- Mechanistic links in ecological and evolutionary analysis: extremophile fish and elemental biology
Past research projects
- Ecology, evolution, and conservation of Oklahoma stream fishes
- Ecology and evolution of North American crayfish
- Hybridization and phenotypic diversification in Cuatro Ciénegas pupfish
- The evolutionary potential of asexual organisms and the stability of gynogenetic complexes
- Phenotypic differentiation and local adaptation along river gradients
