Our lab's research is centered on the
study of patterns of species diversity and distributions in
heterogeneous landscapes, and how those patterns are influenced by physiological, ecological and evolutionary
forces. Our research is generally steeped in field study and uses a combination of
observational, experimental and comparative approaches.
An important focal landscape in our lab's research are tropical
mountainsides. Species found in these regions show
thin, belt-like distributions
along mountain chains, ranging hundreds or thousands of
kilometers in
latitude, but only a handful of kilometers in elevation. This
characteristic of species' ranges in tropical montane forests makes
these
global biodiversity
hotspots exceptionally susceptible to anthropogenic climate change and
fragmentation. Our ability to evaluate the threats
that species
face with such environmental change hinges upon understanding the
abiotic and biotic determinants of their distributions.
Click here
to learn about our lab's ongoing research projects. If you're interested in joining our lab, please contact us!
And if you're considering a graduate program in biology, click here for some (hopefully useful) advice.
