about
I am an evolutionary biologist interested in genome evolution and genetic systems. I use theory, experiments, and statistical analysis of DNA sequences to make inferences about the mechanisms that contribute to evolutionary change. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, where I worked with Spencer C.H. Barrett and Stephen I. Wright on the evolution and genetics of sex chromosomes. Currently, I am a postdoctoral research fellow in Russell Corbett-Detig's lab at the University of California, where I am using comparative population genomic approaches to investigate the fitness effects of new mutations and the mechanisms that constrain adaptive molecular evolution.
research
I am ultimately interested in understanding the balance of forces that shape patterns of molecular evolution and variation. I ask questions such as: How do differences in the extent of genetic mixing (recombination and segregation) within the genome affect the relative strengths of natural selection and genetic drift? What factors constrain molecular adaptation and limit the genetic varation within natural populations? I am also interested more generally in mutations: what determines how often they occur, their effects on fitness, and the factors determine the efficiency with which natural selection acts on them. Because of the incredible genetic system diversity in plants, their interesting life-cycle and mating system characteristics, they are an excellent group in which to ask these questions, and my research has primarily used plant genomes as to test ideas about how evolution works.
