How do evolutionary innovations originate? How do traits evolve in response to stress, and how can traits cause stress? I am intrigued by organisms that appear to transit 'negative trait space' to get to evolutionary innovations, whether that means co-opting stress machinery to survive extreme environments or choosing to withstand internal stresses to produce extreme structures. My research integrates several of the 'omics and physiology to investigate relationships between genotype, phenotype, and environmental conditions. I trend toward aquatic invertebrates as models. 

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 between acquisitions. Arthropods are a diverse group that offer many instances of convergence across sometimes vast evolutionary distances. I study anhydrobiosis in podocopid ostracods, adaptation to thermophilic life in smaller podocopid ostracods, and 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 structures. They evolved IRON-clad teeth that are among the strongest biological minerals on Earth. They also evolved spatial vision multiple times with multiple methods. I study iron regulation and stress and convergent evolution 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, and (I know, vertebrates?!) 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!)