PhD Candidate
tj328@cornell.edu
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in many areas of evolutionary biology, including speciation, phylogenetics, and genomics. My research focuses on the evolutionary origins and genomic signatures of brood parasitism (also called cleptoparasitism), mostly in bees. These species, colloquially referred to as “cuckoo bees”, do not build nests or collect food for their own young, instead invading the nests of other solitary bees and laying their own eggs. One of my major projects to date has been a phylogenomic study of the oldest and most diverse group of brood parasites, the bee subfamily Nomadinae, which has served as a framework for further investigation into the evolutionary trends driving host preferences and innovations in parasite behavior. I have also carried out the first genome sequencing project for a representative of this group, Holcopasites calliopsidis, in order to begin exploring the unique genetic changes that have arisen in association with the strategy of brood parasitism. I am also interested in the convergent evolution of similar forms of parasitism across the animal kingdom and the interplay of pattern and process in the evolutionary dynamics of brood parasitic lineages.
Brief CV
- 2015 – B.S. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology / Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, University of Toronto (double major)
- 2015-Present – PhD Student, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
- 2015-2016 Presidential Life Sciences Fellow
- 2018-2021 NSERC Postgraduate Fellowship (PGS-D)
- Teaching Assistantships in BIOEE1780 (regular and WIM sections), BIOG1140, and BIOG1500