Research in my lab concerns the systematics and evolution of fishes, especially from a macroevolutionary perspective, including study of speciation, systematics, character evolution, and paleobiology. While I myself have done considerable research with fossil semionotid fishes, I have no expectation that students will work on semionotids or even fossils. I encourage students to pursue independent research projects within this broad evolutionary and ichthyological framework. Past students have developed projects on fishes as diverse as needlefishes, cichlids, danios, and swordtails. These projects have integrated some of the following: systematics and biogeography, the relationship between ontogeny and phylogeny, the evolution of morphology and the origin of phenotypic variation. While students in my lab develop their own independent projects, I hope to work closely with each of my students on at least one project done while at Cornell. I encourage applications from students who have interests in evolutionary biology, especially evolutionary ichthyology, compatible with mine (for more about my research interests, see links to Research, Publications, CV).

I view my role of graduate advisor as mentor, not supervisor. I seek students who are creative, independent, hard working and passionate about evolutionary biology and fishes. I believe that a critical part of graduate training is for students to learn to conceive of, fund and execute research independently. I expect to help by being a source of ideas and a backboard for discussion of ideas and research. I take my role as supportive and constructive critic (of grant proposals, talks, and manuscripts) seriously. In general, my students have been very successful obtaining funding for their research: in the past, all of my students have been awarded dissertation improvement grants by the NSF as well as a variety of small grants. My students have uniformly given excellent, often award-winning talks at national meetings, and I am very proud of the high quality papers they have collectively produced. I prefer to sponsor relatively few students in my lab at any one time, which allows me a bit more time and flexibility to mentor any individual student. My laboratory is equipped for morphological (organismal and histological levels) and paleobiological work as well as for maintaining living fishes in a modern aquarium room facility. In addition, students have access to departmental facilities including: a shared molecular laboratory/ training facility called the Evolutionary Genetics Core Facility, a computer lab, outdoor experimental ponds, additional aquarium rooms, and, of course, the Ichthyology Collection at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. Recent students have done extensive collecting and field work in Asia and South America. Our department is a congenial place and co-sponsorship of students by two faculty with complementary expertise works well.

Our program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology offers outstanding opportunities for doctoral training and research. Admission to the Field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology requires a student to be accepted by an admissions committee, which, among other things, usually requires the sponsorship of a faculty member in the Field. The Field only admits a dozen or so students in a given year from among well over 100 applicants. This means that many highly qualified students, eminently capable of doing graduate work, are turned down each year, for lack of space and/or compatibility of research interests with the faculty. Finding a good match between a student and advisor/graduate program is an important part of your job as well as ours. For more information about the graduate program and the mechanics of the application and admission procedures in EEB, investigate http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/field/mainEEB.html.