About us
We are evolutionary ecologists seeking to explain how organisms adapt to their environments. The overarching question of our research is how do natural selection and inheritance interact to shape phenotypes over time? We study the factors within populations that generate among individual differences in highly conspicuous features of mating systems, life histories, and sexual dimorphisms. These features dynamically interact to determine the transmission of alleles between generations and to govern population demography. Thus, our research addresses fundamental questions in biology regarding how organisms mate, what maintains adaptive genetic variation, and how do populations respond to environmental change.
Our group is committed to creating a successful and positive dynamic in which to further the group research goals with the highest scientific integrity. This involves being patient, careful, and detailed while respecting people’s time, opinions, contributions, and backgrounds. We believe it is our shared responsibility to provide a welcoming space for all people to make scientific and academic advancements, to not tolerate speech or actions that are discriminatory, racist, or offensive, and to recognize our own biases and work to break down these and other barriers to inclusivity and equity in academia.
Would you like to join the group?
See recent announcements/opportunities in the News section
Undergraduate students
If you are interested in volunteering in the lab please e-mail me a 3-5 sentence statement of your research interests, your CV/resume, and current (unofficial) GPA.
Future Graduate Students
Please e-mail me to talk about opportunities. I am currently looking for students ready to tackle some hardcore Quantitative Genetics in seed beetles. Anyone interested in adaptation, evolutionary quantitative genetics, fitness, or just super quantitative/statistical evolutionary ecology should contact me!
Future Postdocs
I am very interested to discuss the prospect of collaborating on fellowship applications, for example Canadian NSERC Postdoctoral Programs (français: Niveau Postdoctoral) or outgoing Marie Curie Fellowships. Please contact me.
Recent News

Malaclemys terrapin Reference Genome now Available!
The genome you have all been waiting for...

Congratulations to Jarious
Off to a summer research experience in Genomic Medicine

Philipp's Nature Ecology and Evolution paper is published!
How can seed beetles evolve sexual size dimorphism

Postdoc Position Available
The Wolak and Schwartz Labs are looking for genomic expertise