Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
I was an undergraduate student at Oxford University UK, a graduate student at Aberdeen University UK, and a postdoc at Universities of East Anglia, Oxford and York UK. I've held faculty positions at Universities of York and Cornell.
I am interested in the construction of post-glacial small mammal communities and have studied the natural colonization history of European shrews, voles, mice and small carnivores, revealing a wide range of species- and lineage-specific responses in terms of source areas and pattern of spread. Unnatural colonization history (i.e. transport by humans) is also of interest to me, particularly the way that the phylogeography of small mammals transported by humans can inform about the history of the humans moving them. Those separate lineages that make up a species and which are formed in different places and colonize in different ways, are genetically differentiated to various degrees and may become separate species themselves. I am interested in the speciation process and the analysis of hybrid zones to inform about that. I have, in particular, studied the origin of chromosomally distinctive lineages, and the hybrid zones between those lineages, using shrews and mice as models.
I teach a variety of courses at Cornell including: BioEE 1780 Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and Diversity, BioEE 4500 Mammalogy and BioEE 4501 Mammalogy.
I am Leader for Diversity and Inclusion in EEB, chairing the department’s DEI committee and representing the department in college and university diversity and inclusion efforts.