Research

I am broadly interested in ecology, behavior, and evolution. My research to date has focused on advancing our understanding of the generation and maintenance of biodiversity by using DNA sequence data to reconstruct the evolutionary history of species and populations.

Evolution of Brood Parasites

I am broadly interested in the evolution of brood parasitic birds, and the evolutionary arms races between parasites and their respective hosts. My brood parasite research focuses on indigobirds (Vidua spp.), which are obligate brood parasitic finches distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. These parasitic birds display remarkable fidelity to a single host due the effects of imprinting during development. Indigobirds likely speciate by shifting to, and imprinting on, a novel host (i.e., speciation by host shift). However, host shifts imply imperfect host fidelity, and could also result in gene flow among species due to shifts to an occupied host. With fieldwork in Tanzania, I am studying the behavioral, morphological, and genomic population structure among species in East Africa.

Maleae Genomics

The tribe Maleae is a diverse clade of ~750 woody plant species that includes apples, pears, and quince genera. The history of this clade includes a whole genome duplication (WGD) in the root lineage, and a rapid radiation associated with evolution of the pome fruit. We are studying the consequences of WGD in this clade by tracking patterns of gene loss and retention following duplication and scanning the genome of a recently evolved tetraploid species.

Molecular Phylogenetics and Population Genetics

The ability to collect genomic data for non-model organisms, and the development of computational tools to examine these data, have created unprecedented opportunities to resolve phylogenies and detect fine-scale population structure. My research uses restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) and whole genome sequencing to discover and genotype polymorphisms scattered across the genome, which are used to estimate the evolutionary history of lineages.

Behavioral Ecology

I am generally interested in the proximate and ultimate reasons why animals behave the way that they do. During my PhD I conducted a playback experiment with indigobirds to test if vocal mimicry of hosts is used in species recognition. Previously, I assisted on studies of breeding behavior in barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) and foraging behavior in rufous-tailed jacamars (Galbula ruficauda).

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