We want to be able to predict how populations will evolve. (For example, when a new antibiotic is developed, we would like to know whether bacteria will become resistant in weeks, decades, or somewhere in between.) This goal is just starting to become realistic, thanks to rapidly advancing genetic sequencing technology. Now we need to solve a pair of theoretical problems in order to translate all the new sequence data into evolutionary predictions. First, we need to understand how to infer prevailing population dynamics from population genomic data. Second, given these patterns, we need to calculate the spectrum of possible evolutionary trajectories. Within these broad areas, our research focuses on several key questions listed below.

Projects:

Publication list at Google Scholar.