Me at a hot spring, catching ostracods while not falling into 40C water!
How does stress shape innovation? How do innovations cause stress?

I harness extreme survivors to better understand the limits of life, from plasticity and adaptation to evolutionary invention. My study systems include animals who constantly regrow tissues, who live in toxic water, and who desiccate for months at a time. My research program combines the latest 'omics technologies with traditional physiological studies to investigate relationships between genotype, phenotype, and environment. I trend toward aquatic invertebrates as models. 

I aspire to remain in academia, where I will continue to stress out the inverts while supporting the vertebrates who study them. 

Current Research

Convergent evolution of complex traits in arthropods

Convergent evolution empowers us to ask what components of a trait may be essential by asking what pieces are shared. Arthropods are a diverse group of animals with many convergent innovations. I study extreme survival in anhydrobiotic podocopid ostracods and thermophilic podocopid ostracods. I am also working on the evolution of mushroom bodies in the brains of hexapods and stomatopods. 

Chitons as models for path dependent evolution and iron stress

Chitons (Polyplacophora; Mollusca) are intertidal molluscs with a unique combination of innovations. They evolved IRON-clad teeth that are among the strongest biological minerals on Earth. They also evolved spatial vision multiple times through very different visual systems. I study the stress of iron regulation and the convergent evolutions of vision across clades of chitons.

Collaborations and side projects

The best part of science is being unlimited in the invertebrates I get to work with because of incredible collaborators worldwide. I am working with researchers at other universities, museums, and in government agencies to capture biodiversity and to explore the gamut of resilience exhibited by marine invertebrates everywhere from the deserts of Nevada to Antarctica's depths. Ask me about ongoing collaborations on pycnogonids, kinorhynchs, sea cucumbers, starfish nervous systems, jellyfish, midshipman fish and lantern sharks. Also feel free to contact me if you're struggling to obtain high-quality nucleic acids or proteins from a weird invertebrate; I love to collaborate via troubleshooting!

Other Recent  Projects

Fall of 2020 I joined a research expedition to ANTARCTICA! Check out more about the cruise HERE!
I published the first genome of a chiton, Acanthopleura granulata, together with a discoveries about genetic mechanisms chitons may use to mitigate iron stress. (Read more HERE​!) 
Can telomeres provide information for shark ageing? We found that telomeres could provide an additional line of evidence. (Read more HERE!)

Sampling Locations to Date