Me and my research

Ah, yes, Joshua tree TV474. Isn't it cute? Photo by jby.

Regarding what I do for a living: I'm currently a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Minnesota. My research focuses on how interactions between species—predators and prey, plants and pollinators, hosts and parasites—shapes the evolutionary history of each. I've explored this question using mathematical models of coevolution, reconstructions of past evolutionary history, and the population genetics of the interaction between Joshua trees and the moths that pollinate them. I've written extensively about my research here at D&T; the most recent results from the Joshua tree system are described in this post. A list of my scientific publications is online at my personal site.

Why "Denim and Tweed?"

When I started this blog, I had pretensions of crossing some significant cultural boundaries that divide U.S. society. I was, I wrote, "a baptized Mennonite studying evolutionary biology, an East-Coast liberal living in Idaho, and a fan of David Foster Wallace who also appreciates 'Battlestar Galactica.' " I think my idea was that the fabrics denim and tweed similarly reflected those opposite poles of culture. The irony is, of course, that a tweed jacket worn with blue jeans is basically the uniform of elitist academia—and since I began writing at D&T I've stopped attending church, embraced the hipster AV Club/Kottke culture that appreciates Infinite Jest as much as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and come out of the closet. So much for reconciling opposites?

My Science Scouts badges.