Research in my lab currently focuses on the evolutionary ecology of mutualistic symbioses, mainly coral-dinoflagellate associations. These associations form the basis of one of the most biologically diverse and threatened marine ecosystems on the planet. Through the use of various genetic-based approaches in laboratory and field settings we examine ecological, biogeographic, and phylogenetic patterns in order to deduce fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes involving microbial eukaryotes. Symbiosis research involves investigations at various biological scales, from the biochemical/cellular to the community/ecosystem level. An applied part of this research seeks to understand how coral communities globally are responding ecologically and evolutionarily to climate warming. The symbionts of corals, Symbiodinium, are ideal for examining broader questions about microbial eukaryotic biodiversity, clonality, sexual recombination, dispersal, speciation, and ecological/physiological specialization, among other topics.
