Research in my lab focuses on change in marine ecosystems over time, from millions of years ago to the recent past and the present day. Environmental and ecological transformation of the Caribbean caused by formation of the Isthmus of Panama and global climate changes over the last 10 million...
I am interested in the evolution and the ecology of marine organisms, particularly sea urchins, but also fishes, crustaceans, and corals. I focus on the processes that give rise to new species, and I use molecular tools to reconstruct the history of populations and of genes. Typically, this...
In our lab, we investigate sensory and cognitive mechanisms underlying animal behavior. Animals use a wide array of cues and signals to glean information about their environment. An animal’s sensory and perceptual systems filter incoming stimuli and define an animal’s Umwelt, or the...
My research investigates ecological and evolutionary influences on variation in rainforest communities across the tropics. The overarching goal of my research is to understand broad-scale patterns in the diversity and dynamics of tropical rainforests. Understanding how the environment constrains...
My lab uses natural history observations, combined with experimental field and laboratory studies, to better understand the evolution of animal behavior in changing environments. Our research focuses primarily on weakly social bees and fungus-growing ants to understand how environmental,...
My research seeks to optimize the conservation of birds and biodiversity in tropical working landscapes, especially coffee and cocoa growing regions of Latin America. I lead the Smithsonian Bird Friendly® program, which offers a gold standard certification for coffee and cocoa farms that...
Discover the captivating world of ant-following birds in our upcoming talk!
The importance of timber plantations as corridors or shelter for mammals.
Research in my lab seeks to understand the processes determining tropical forest biomass, dynamics, plant species composition, and diversity, and their variation within and among sites and over time. The biomass of a forest reflects the interplay of wood production via growth and loss via...
Spix’s disc-winged bats shrieked when they were first shown mealworms, a new food for them. Were they alarmed, or were they communicating their excitement to their fellow bats?
