Independent Research Fellow
Animal and Plant Sciences
University of Sheffield
United Kingdom
BSc (1999) University of Victoria, Canada (1999) PhD (2006) Simon Fraser University, Canada (2006) Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, Canada (2006-2008) Academic Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin, Germany (2008-2009) Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA (2009-2011) ERC funded Independent Research Fellow, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK (2012-2014) Royal Society University Research Fellow, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (2014-present)
Research in the lab focuses on the evolutionary processes driving and constraining the formation of new species. In particular, we are interested in the role of adaptation to new ecological environments, via natural selection, in the speciation process. Related interests concern the impact of natural selection on genomic divergence, predator-prey interactions, eco-evolutionary dynamics and macro-evolutionary patterns of character evolution. Various data are used to address these topics, including field observations, manipulative field and lab experiments and next generation DNA sequencing data. The molecular work spans a range of sub-disciplines, including evolutionary genetics and population genomics. We also integrate these empirical studies with theoretical work and comparative analyses. Our main study system are Timema stick insects.