Spalink Lab

Our research sits at the intersection of evolution, ecology, and geography.

Projects in the lab range from studying the dynamics of genetic diversity within species to the evolution of entire plant orders, and from regional patterns of community assembly to the global structure of phylogenetic and functional diversity. As climate changes, habitats fragment, and extinction rates rise, we use this evolutionary perspective to understand the processes through which species have evolved and assembled so that we are better equipped to protect them. Projects in the lab incorporate:

 

Fieldwork
Genomics
Geography
Morphometrics
Distribution Modeling
Informatics

It is an exciting time to be an evolutionary biologist!

Technological achievements allow an amassment of previously unimaginable amounts of data which can be shared globally and analyzed rigorously. Projects in this lab make full use of emerging big data, integrating genome-scale molecular data with geologic, geographic, climatic, herbarium, and functional trait data.

We are currently recruiting graduate students to join our lab!

Join Us!