My lab aims to resolve sections of the Fish Tree of Life to understand how different species are related to each other and how that can explain Earth history and evolution. We are interested in explaining the patterns of disjunct distributions such as seen in some cavefishes, cichlids and other groups. We also use genomes to better understand the mechanisms behind bioluminescence, hybridization, convergence and speciation.

I have described 15 new species and named more than 10 new genera, subfamilies and tribes. An important part of studying the Tree of Life is organizing branches with names. I am also a strong proponent of vouchering specimens related to molecular work in order to make that work repeatable and to ensure the repeatability of these studies.

My lab is lucky enough to travel to two to three countries a year to conduct fieldwork. Most recently we have been to Australia, Belize, Costa Rica, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Our work has resulted in the LSU MNS having one of the largest and most diverse collections of fish tissues/DNA in the country (>10K samples) with more than 300K specimens from 50 countries. [Click Here for Fieldwork & Curation Pics]

An important part of my work is to help build scientific capacity in natural history research whether that is in the U.S. or abroad. I want to help those that did not have the same level of privilege that I did to expand their understanding of the natural world. I’d like to help make the biodiversity sciences more diverse, inclusive and international.