OUR PROJECTS
DIETARY DNA ANALYSIS
ENVIRONMENTAL DNA FOR BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION OF SYMBIOSIS
Do invasive species eat the same things as the native species they replace? How do forest birds get Mercury in their bodies? We use dietary DNA metabarcoding to gain new and much more in-depth understanding of the diets of lots of critters.
Sometimes our work is like being a CSI detective. All organisms shed their DNA into the environment. We isolate and sequence this "environmental DNA" to see which organisms live in a given environment. This way we can study rare or well-hidden species without hurting them or damaging their homes!
Every animal is influenced by symbiotic interactions with microbes and other animals. Thus, if our goal is to understand the processes that create and maintain biological diversity, we need to understand symbioses. But because most animals are simultaneously involved in many symbioses, and each one may affect the other, things can get complicated fast. We use experiments, ecological theory, and multivarite statistical analysis to tease apart tangled symbioses.