Research in my laboratory focuses on using phylogenetic trees inferred from nucleotide sequence data as a framework to understand biodiversity, morphological evolution, molecular evolution, and certain aspects of disease ecology. Many of my research questions focus on nematodes (both free-living and parasitic), although I also study other groups of parasites, including acanthocephalans. The main source of my laboratory funding comes from the National Science Foundation, and these research grants are often collaborative, involving investigators at UC Riverside (Jim Baldwin, Paul De Ley) and other institutions. Much of my recent evolutionary research has focused on nematodes of the suborder Cephalobina, a group that includes numerous bacterial-feeding species in soil, but also some parasitic taxa hosted by invertebrates, and more rarely mammals.
