Research

Our lab studies the ecological drivers of trait evolution in nature. We specialize in interdisciplinary research that unites natural history collections with ecological and genetic data to test hypotheses about the origin, stability, and coevolution of traits over time and space.  

As an evolutionary biologist, behavioral ecologist, and museum curator, I integrate field and laboratory studies to answer questions in two main areas: (1) the origins and evolutionary dynamics of phenotypic novelty and (2) how correlations among traits create complex phenotypes. Our lab uses reptiles and amphibians across the Western Hemisphere as our primary system for understanding trait change in nature, with students and postdocs seeking out my lab to study the integrative evolutionary responses that organisms have to their predators, prey, pathogens, and habitat. The traits we study and approaches we take are highly interdisciplinary, drawing from behavioral ecology, comparative morphology, genomics and transcriptomics, ecological physiology, and macroevolutionary phylogenetic analysis.

Please follow the links below to learn more about some of our ongoing projects!