Work in our lab concentrates on four main areas of research:

Speciation of fishes

We address this question using a variety of approaches: genomics of local adaptation, population genetics, phylogeography, phylogenetics, life history and ecological studies.  For a review of the topic you can read this paper.

The genetics of Lessepsian Bioinvasions

With the opening of the Suez Canal, in 1869, there was an opportunity for Red Sea fishes to invade the Mediterranean Sea, these are called Lessepsian bioinvasions.  Global climate change is increasing the rate of such invasions and we are trying to understand the genetics underlying such processes.  Here is a paper that summarizes our findings.

Coral Reef Management in Yap State, Micronesia

The Outer Islands of Yap State, FSM, represent a huge portion of the Pacific Ocean where people rely heavily on the fisheries for subsistence.  Through their foresight, they decided to manage their resources and asked a group of researchers to monitor their reefs and give them information and tools to make informed decisions.  Learn more about this project at the “One people One reef” website.

Long Term Ecological Research

For a number of years we have been involved with the Moorea Coral Reef Long Term Ecological Research program.  We are working on long term monitoring of fish assemblages (e.g. this paper) and on the recruitment dynamics of fishes, primarily clownfishes and three-spot dascyllus (e.g. this paper).  Check out the MCR-LTER website for more info.

California Conservation Genomics Project

CCGP aims at building the most comprehensive genomic dataset ever assembled for conservation science. Our lab is involved with studying four marine fish species, Black Surfperch, Wolly sculpin, California Shephead (in collaboration with Michael Dawson) and Monkeyface prickleback (in collaboration with Donovan German).

Interested in joining the lab?  Just contact us!