As a native Californian, I have a keen interest in the evolutionary history of the tremendously rich, yet massively under-studied spider (and other arachnid) fauna of CA. Together with colleagues and students, I have been involved in several studies of this fauna, and many more studies continue.
Examples of Prior (published) Studies:
Extinction in Los Angeles Basin trapdoor spiders (with Jason Bond and colleagues)
Historical biogeography in the desert-dwelling spider genus Homalonychus (with prior student, Sarah Crews)
Cryptic speciation in the California turrett spider (with prior student, Jim Starrett)
Examples of On-going Studies:
Fine scale geographic divergence & potential contact dynamics in turrett spiders (with Jim Starrett & Cheryl Hayashi at UCR)
Historical biogeography of the amaurobiid spider genus Pimus (with MS student Robin Keith)
Combined data systematics in the trapdoor spider genus Aliatypus (with Jason Bond)
Gene development in the trapdoor spider genus Aliatypus (with Jim Starrett & Cheryl Hayashi)
Landscape genetics and phylogeography of Aliatypus thompsoni (with MS student Jordan Satler)
