ResearchGate profile | Publications (Google Scholar)
I am an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in the history and process of evolution. Combining genome-scale datasets, bioinformatic tools, and phylogenetic thinking, I study how changes in the genome reflect and shape the evolution of organisms. My work tends to focus on evolutionary radiations, including the Cambrian explosion of animal phyla and the enormously successful diversification of social insects. Currently, I am trying to understand the ongoing radiation of hamlets, a group of Caribbean reef fish that have rapidly evolved into a brilliant array of color patterns. My aim is to characterize the complex phylogenetic relationships between hamlet populations and species, and to investigate how the genomes of hamlets differ from those of other serranid fishes that have not radiated.