Mechanisms of reproductive isolation The central issue in speciation is to understand the origin of isolating barriers that constrain gene flow between lineages when in sympatry. We are interested in addressing this fundamental issue by: 1) determining which reproductive barriers contribute to the isolation between lineages, 2) understanding which evolutionary forces generate these reproductive barriers. In particular, I am interested in the role of divergent selection in the process of speciation.
Genomic architecture of adaptation and speciation Understanding which genetic change contributes to phenotypic variation gives us a mechanistic explanation of the evolutionary changes and improve our ability to predict evolution. We am interested in studying genomic basis of adaptation and speciation by taking advantage of hybrid zones, where hybrid individuals presents a mixed ancestry with intermediate phenotypes. Common genomic methods include: long-read sequencing, genome-wide-association-study, population genomics, etc.
Speciation across a community of insects Host-association differentiation (HAD) is a common phenomenon among insect specialists and is considered as an initial stage of speciation. Often, a community of insect specialist are found to feed on the same set of host species. Do all insects exhibit host-associated differentiation (phenotypically and genomically)? If not, what are the factors contribute to the different responses across different insect species? Addressing this question will provide us important insight on factors promote/constrain speciation. To test such question, we work on a community of gall-forming insects that feed on the same set of sister plant species.