1. The Geometry of Trade-Offs to Host Resistance

Almost any idea in evolutionary biology depends on some sort of trade-off. Fitness in one aspect of an organism's life history must come at some sort of cost; otherwise, we would be surrounded by all-fit 'Darwinian monsters'. The determinants of these trade-offs or costs are still being explored. Are they created by antagonistic pleiotropy, by resource allocation constraints, by limitations of selection pressures?
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I am currently working to explore the nuances of the trade-off between development time and resistance to viral infection in our Plodia interpunctella model system. Through working with several long-term experimental evolution lines, I've been exploring the genetic architecture, symmetry, and shape of the trade-off and how it functions under different environmental conditions. 

2. Host Genetic Diversity and Host Breadth Evolution

Experimental evolution is often conducted in the simplest possible lab conditions to best isolate  variables of interest from confounding factors. Often, this involves evolution along genetically homogenous hosts. However, we have long known that host genetic diversity can affect pathogens through dynamics like the 'Monoculture effect'. So then, does this effect of host genetic diversity interact with other population characteristics to variably influence parasite evolution?

I am currently working to explore the role of host genetic diversity on host breadth evolution in our Plodia interpunctella and granulosis virus system. I've shown that the virus can evolve to specialize on different inbred genotypes of host, and I'm continuing this work to examine how host population structure biases the system towards selecting for generalism or specialism.

3. Coevolution and Diversification Patterns

Why there is so much diversity of life on earth remains one of the fundamental questions of biology. Many of our explanations for this depend on the existence of specialists. Thus, trade-offs and niche breadth evolution underpin our theories for the maintenance of diversity in natural systems. But, there is variation in the amount of diversity across ecosystems, so how do different trade-offs interact to drive these patterns?

Soon, I plan to extend my work to experimental evolution with coevolutionary systems (moth/baculovirus and  bacteria/phage systems) to explore how populations generate and maintain diversity. Central to this will be exploring what environmental factors bias systems towards supporting more or less diversity.

4. Collaborations

With my work testing theory in experimental evolution systems, I sit on the nexus of theory and empirical work. With my background in virus evolution, I've worked in labs informed by eco-evolutionary and population genetics perspectives. As such, I'm especially passionate about linking conversations and translating between fields. How can disparate perspectives be combined to form more unified understandings of the world around us?

I have been lucky enough to work in several collaborations with scientists of different trainings to link our perspectives. With mathematician Ryosuke Iritani, I helped biologically inform an adaptive dynamics model and find empirical examples in the literature to test its predictions. With field researchers Sarah Guth and Cara Brook, I helped link data analysis to theoretical literatures. I welcome more of these sorts of collaborations in the future!