I am an evolutionary biologist and chemical ecologist. Much of my research has focused on monarch butterflies and their interactions with milkweed host plants, but I am broadly interested in the process of adaptation and methods for detecting natural selection.

Image: Heteromeles arbutifolia (Toyon), a common chaparral shrub in California. Plant secondary chemistry differs between populations on the California mainland and the nearby Channel Islands.

I am especially interested in the recent global range expansion of the monarch butterfly. Over recent evolutionary history, monarchs have expanded across the Pacific, the Atlantic, and into the Caribbean and South America, where they form non-migratory, year-round breeding populations.

Image: Monarchs from Puerto Rico (left) and North America (right) reared under common greenhouse conditions

My doctoral research focused on contemporary evolution in recently-established monarch populations around the world. I use a combination of population genetics, greenhouse experiments, and museum collections to test evolutionary hypotheses.

Image: A monarch butterfly nectaring on A. curassavica in Guam. Monarchs were first recorded in Guam in 1887.