ABOUT THE LAB
My interests are focused on how local populations of a species adapt to local ecological circumstances. In the fishes I study, local populations experience different types of water chemistry, thermal environments, food levels, and predation risks. My research examines how individuals in different populations cope with these diverse challenges and how these local differences in the pressures of natural selection help create the diversity we see among individuals of the same species. I also study how these local differences themselves affect local ecosystems—in effect, asking how local differences in ecology might actually be created, at least in part, by how populations have responded evolutionarily in the past.”
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How do Trinidadian guppies coexist with Hart’s killifish when theory says they shouldn’t?
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Why are Trinidadian guppies so distinct in their life history at higher elevation sites when the seemingly obvious answer, the lack of predation pressure, is wrong?
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Why are melanic male mosquitofish rare when it appears that they are bolder, tougher, hardier, and more forward toward females than non-melanic males?
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Why does increased density alone depress reproduction in the Least Killifish when there is plenty of food to go around?
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How do sailfin mollies in north Florida sustain themselves in the headwaters of spring-fed rivers when it can be a struggle to keep them in fresh water in the lab?
There are two common threads among all of these efforts. First, I find these projects by observing nature. I try to be a darned good naturalist who knows an interesting situation when he sees it. Second, I bring theory to bear on each one of these questions and try to bring the answers to bear on theory. Theory unites our observations about nature and gives us the framework upon which to organize them and understand them.
