Morphological diversity, both within and between species, is the product of structural and functional changes in genes and genomes and the effect of such changes on developmental pathways. Understanding this relationship between genes, ontogeny, and the origins and diversification of species falls within the realm of evolutionary developmental biology.

As an evolutionary developmental biologist, I combine the fields of genomics, systematics, developmental genetics, and molecular evolutionary biology to discern the molecular mechanisms underlying the origin and evolution of morphological diversity. I am particularly interested in understanding the evolutionary and functional consequences of changes in plant genomes that have given rise to plant morphological and species diversity. In order to address this problem, it is necessary to understand how evolution acts upon plant genes and genomes, and the functional consequences of such evolutionary change.

I have focused my research efforts on microevolutionary processes that shape plant genomes in functionally relevant ways: 1) the evolution of sex chromosomes and sexual dimorphism and 2) the evolution of duplicate genes. Both of these processes exemplify how structural changes in the plant genome can lead to major innovations in plant development. By studying these processes on both genomic and functional levels, I hope to bridge the gap between genomics and morphological diversity.