Research Overview

From histology to contrast CT scanning, from PCR to -omics, from a quick bash script to deep-learning algorithms, we use a variety of techniques to answer questions grounded in comparative biology about how some of the most extreme adaptations have evolved.

Genomic and morphological diversity of Bats

Bats live at the extreme. Being among the longest-lived for their body size, occupying nearly every conceivable dietary niche for vertebrates, exhibiting exceptional viral tolerance, and demonstrating the fastest flight speeds ever recorded, bats embody life on the edge and our lab investigates a broad range of how some of these exceptional adaptations can evolve. Ongoing projects include:

• Molecular evolution of extreme diet-related phenotypes

• Trait loss and neofunctionalization

• Morphological and genomic basis of viral tolerance

COMPARATIVE EMBRYOLOGY of tetrapods

The transition from water to land (and sometimes back again!) requires profound molecular and morphological changes to occur. Ongoing projects include:

• Molecular and morphological basis of aquatic and terrestrial shifts

• Automated segmentation of morphological structures

• Homology of brain regions across deep taxa

• Inferring sensory adaptations of dinosaurs and stem tetrapods

• Functional genomics of chemoreceptors in aquatic reptiles

Chemical biology of hydrothermal vent macrofauna

350ºC temperatures. Anoxia. H2S concentrations twice what could kill a human. How can life not just exist, but thrive here? We take multiple creative imaging approaches to study macrofaunal extremophiles to investigate the diversity of ways these animals take to cope with such extreme conditions. Ongoing investigations include:

• Biohalogenation

• Chemo-morphology of heavy metals across tissue types

• Gene family discovery