Researchers

I am a professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. I began my career as a scientist working in the field of theoretical population genetics, using mathematical models to understand how genetic variation is shaped by environmental and demographic stochasticity. However, my current research focuses on the biodiversity, natural history and population genetics of soil mites within the Sonoran Desert and surrounding areas. I am particularly interested in soil mite communities in the Madrean sky islands and understanding how sympatric species with differing ecologies have responded to a shared history of climate change throughout the Pleistocene. Recent projects in Sonora have included surveys of soil mites on the Mesa del Campanero near Yécora and in disturbed and undisturbed tropical deciduous forest near Álamos.

In my spare time, I am an enthusiastic birder and contributor to eBird, and I also serve as curator of the Ornithology collection at ASU.