Loss of biodiversity is one of the most significant environmental challenges of our generation. The current rate of species extinction is estimated at more than one thousand times background levels, and wildlife population abundance has declined by more than 50% since 1970 on the basis of data collected from over 14,000 populations of more than 3700 vertebrate species.  How do we begin to improve the situation for these struggling species?

Documenting how Earth’s many ecosystems, each with unique combinations of climate, flora, and fauna, came to be is critical for understanding how ecosystems function today, and will function in the future. My lab’s research has focused largely on elucidating the Cretaceous-Cenozoic assembly of grassland ecosystems, which currently occupy 40% of Earth’s land surface and provide key agricultural products (e.g., corn, rice).

Diet evolution is a major driver of differences in morphology, function and species richness across mammal lineages. My lab’s research focuses on understanding how ecological diversification in mammals is related to the evolution of phenotypic traits, in particular those used to locate, capture and consume prey. With over 1,300 species worldwide, bats are an ideal model system for this research; they are one of the most species-rich and ecologically diverse mammal orders.