I started my research career in behavioral genetics at Rutgers University, but during internships at Duke and UC Berkeley, became inspired to study genome evolution. My PhD focused on studying the genome of Xenopus laevis, a tetraploid frog commonly used in developmental biology. I was able to prove the allotetraploid hypothesis of X. laevis using data intrinsic to the genome, as well as detail the asymmetric evolution that followed. For my postdoc, I focused on plant genome duplications as polyploidy is more common in plants. I helped sequence the Brachypodium hybridum, Miscanthus sinensis, and Panicum virgatum genomes, as well as develop new methods for identifying allopolyploids, and timing their hybridization through studying transposon evolution. Looking forward, I hope to continue to study polyploids in plants, animals, and fungi, with the goal of unifying the techniques used to study these genomes in different lineages, as well as use allopolyploids to further our understanding of speciation. PhD Berkeley BS Rutgers
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