Research

A fundamental problem for biology is to understand diversity. The ornithologist and tropical biologist Ernst Mayr (1904–2005) famously wrote that two domains of inquiry could tackle this issue — ‘functional’ biology and evolutionary biology. Mayr thought that whereas the functional biologist might be interested in how variation arises, mechanistically, through genetic and nongenetic factors, the evolutionary biologist is preoccupied by why diversity occurs in the first place. That is, in the factors promoting and maintaining the endless forms we see around us. Fortunately, the boundaries between these domains have become rather blurry, allowing our group to apply a unified framework that seeks both functional and evolutionary explanations for diversity in nature. Our studies draw on approaches from numerous disciplines (ecology, genomics, physiology, molecular genetics), often in the context of adaptive evolution and the origin of new species. 

Examples of our research include:

• Evolution of Reproductive Isolation
• Proximate Mechanisms of Phenotypic Evolution
• Seasonality, Adaptation, & Resilience