I have many research interests and this is reflected by the diverse projects in my lab. Our focus is at the level of phenotypes, but we make good use of molecular tools too. We tend to study animals that can be easily observed and manipulated in the field, but no taxa, habitats, or regions are considered out of bounds.
Few would deny that the behavior of animals is an integral part of their ecology and evolution, but biologists often make unwarranted assumptions about behavior. Taking behavior into account can completely change the expected dynamics of a system.
Aggression between species is very common and often just as intense as aggression within species. Evolutionary responses to interspecific aggression must therefore be a major determinant of how species diversify. Yet aggression is understudied compared to other types of interactions, such as predation, hybridization, and exploitative competition. We are helping to fill this void with theoretical and empirical research.
