Ongoing projects

Empirical: Parasite-Host-Vector Interactions

Population genomics of plant parasites

• How are parasite populations genetically structured within and across host individuals? space? host species?
• How are parasite species structured across their geographic range? How do ecological interactions (host species, biotic dispersal), environmental characteristics, and geography interact to determine that structure?

Reproductive isolation of parasitic plant host races

• Is there selection for increasing pre-zygotic barriers to reproduction between host races?

Host-parasite vector interactions across scales

• How do within-host processes translate to parasite fitness?
• What are the ecological causes and consequences of host-associated genetic differentiation?

Theory: Population and Adaptive Dynamics

Indirect interactions and conflict between mutualist partners

• How do antagonisms (competition, interference, predation) between species sharing a mutualist partner feedback to influence the dynamics of the system as a whole?
• What are the relative roles of indirect interactions in determining population dynamics in systems of coupled mutualism and antagonism?
• How does the degree of specialization of the mutualist partners affect the system’s persistence under different types of antagonistic interactions?

Adaptive dynamics of density-dependent, demographically-structured populations

• What are the expected long-term trajectories of life history traits in populations undergoing different forms of density dependence?

Previous Research

Symbiotic mutualisms

Vertically-transmitted microbial symbionts and the dynamics of host populations and communities

• How do vertically-transmitted, microbial symbionts affect the population dynamics of their hosts?
• How does a microbial symbiont interact with abiotic context to determine the outcome of a tri-trophic interaction?