Our lab is interested in the diversity, evolution, and biogeography of invertebrate animals. Our work is driven by questions such as: How many species are there? How are they related? And how can we explain their distribution in space? We work with morphological data gathered primarily through scanning electron microscopy, as well as DNA sequence data. 

The main focus of our research is understanding the diversity and evolution of a group of tiny arachnids called Cyphophthalmi, the mite harvesters. We are particularly interested in their systematics and historical biogeography, and have collected them in many parts of the world (New Zealand, Japan, Pacific Northwest, Sri Lanka). Recent work with these animals has centered on the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. Currently, we are working on the systematics and biogeography of New Zealand's mite harvester fauna, with support from a grant from the NSF. My students and I have named and described many new species in this group; you can read about our fieldwork in Australia here and here and check out a fieldwork slideshow below.

My longtime collaborators in projects on mite harvesters are Gonzalo Giribet (Harvard University) and Prashant Sharma (University of Wisconsin - Madison). Our current projects on the New Zealand fauna are being carried out in partnership with Gonzalo, Shahan Derkarabetian (San Diego Natural History Museum), and the excellent curatorial and educational staff at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, along with Gustavo Hormiga (George Washington University). I have also begun exploring biogeography of Pacific Northwest mite harvesters with Shahan and Susan Masta (Portland State Unviersity).

​

While we love working on geographically far-flung projects, we are also very interested in our local Minnesota invertebrates. We have investigated mating behavior, diversity, and phenology of local leiobunine harvesters (aka daddy long-legs), in collaboration with Kasey Fowler-Finn (St. Louis University) and Macalester alum Mercedes Burns (University of Maryland - Baltimore County). Much of this work has been performed at Macalester's Ordway Field Station, as seen in the slideshow below.

New projects on the most common and widespread harvester in the world (Phalangium opilio) are being developed in collaboration with Prashant Sharma. We have also done work on population genetics and DNA barcoding of freshwater mussels, which are highly diverse here in the Upper Midwest. My collaborators in these projects include Dan Hornbach (Macalester College Environmental Studies), Mark Hove (Macalester College and University of Minnesota), and Kevin Roe (Iowa State University). You can read about some of our mussel work here. I have also dabbled in DNA barcoding of zooplankton crustaceans with Toben LaFrancois (Northland College). Our work on mussels and zooplankton has been supported by the National Park Service.

​

In distant the past I worked on marine snails in French Polynesia, and also made a brief foray into the world of desert soil cyanobacteria.