Research Interests
I am interested in ecological and evolutionary questions concerning plant reproduction, particularly those centering on the processes that generate and maintain genetic variation in characters that appear to have obvious effects on reproductive success of plants in natural population. In the past, I have combined observation from natural populations, manipulative experiments in the greenhouse and in common gardens, quantitative genetics and molecular evolution approaches in my studies. Although I primarily consider myself an empirical biologist, I also develop theory in order to better understand factors that are difficult to study empirically. Recently, my research has been focusing on questions relating to the evolution of plant mating systems. There are two main lines of research that are currently ongoing in my lab: (1) gender-specific selection in hermaphroditic plants, and (2) evolution of separate sexes in plants.