BIODIVERSITY GENOMICS LAB
RESEARCH THEMES
We use molecular methods to understand evolutionary history, genome evolution and population structure of animals. Our work spans a variety of animal groups, from birds, to marine invertebrates and fishes. We use various approaches from bioinformatics and data science, in addition to evolutionary analyses, to analyze often large-scale molecular datasets.
Phylogenomics
Several of our projects aim to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships among animals. We use molecular data to study how species are related, date when lineages formed and test hypotheses of why they diversified. Our ongoing projects concern the phylogeny of birds and of fishes and we are particularly interested in dissecting reasons for phylogenetic conflict.
Comparative Genomics
We perform comparisons among genomes to understand the molecular basis of different traits, such as special morphologies, or the effects of environmental changes on genomic structure. We currently work on a dataset of hundreds of genomes of syngnathiform fishes to better understand their genome evolution in addition to comparison of high-quality genomes of particular species of interest.
Population and Conservation Genomics
We use genetic data for individuals of the same species to understand the distribution of genetic diversity in relation to the landscape. This information can be useful to inform management of these populations. Much of our previous work has focused on the characterizing genetic diversity of the fantastic seadragons of Australia. We currently continue with a conservation genomic assessments seadragons using whole genomes in addition to characterizing genetic structuring of marine worms.