The Lab

P.I.
I am a population geneticist, with a passion for understanding the evolution of genetic systems underlying flowering plant reproductive diversity.

Lila Maladesky
PhD – Genomics
Lila joined the lab in September 2024 as a PhD student studying the Genomics of sex-determination in the Hawaiian Wikstroemia.

Ruben Cousins Westerberg
PhD – Biogeography & Systematics
Ruben joined the lab in 2024 to study the systematics and biogeography of dioecy in the Hawaiian Wikstroemia.

Nikos Tsardakas Renhuldt
Postdoc – Bioinformatics
Nikos joined the lab in January 2024, and is our resident bioinformatician working on the Genomics of sex determination in Hawaiian Wikstroemia project.
Collaborators

Bengt is my close colleague and collaborator in the Genetics of Sex Differences Research Group at Lund University. Bengt is interested in the evolution of sex chromosomes, with special emphasis on avian neo-sex chromosomes, and genomics.

Jessica is my other major colleague and collaborator in the Genetics of Sex Differences Research Group at Lund University. Jessica is interested in the evolutionary genetics of sex differences, especially sexually antagonistic genetic variation, and the evolution of sex chromosomes.

Lotte is an evolutionary demographer with a special focus on the evolutionary and demographic consequences of conflict between different classes of individuals, whether males/females, parents/offspring, queens/workers, etc. We are collaborating to expand Mendelian Demographic Models to explore new and more general cases, like hermaphrodites!

Tim was my primary PhD supervisor and now friend, colleague, and fellow crusty population geneticist. We are almost always collaborating on a handful of theoretical projects, ranging from models of sexually antagonistic selection to sex chromosome evolution.

Crispin is an evolutionary ecologist with a focus on plant reproductive traits. We have collaborated on theoretical questions about sexually antagonistic selection in hermaphrodites, and the consequences of spatially variable selection on sex-specific local adaptation in hermaphrodites.

Pete is a mathematical/theoretical biologist, with a special interest in stochastic modelling. We are currently working on extending models of frequency dependent selection on complementary sex determination systems in finite populations.

Charlie is my friend and colleague down the hall. His lab studies a variety of major questions in evolutionary biology, including the evolution of multicellularity and sociality.

Matt Knope and I go WAY back to my undergraduate (his PhD) days at UH Manoa. Now, we are collaborating together on the Hawaiian Wikstroemia project!

Cliff is a botanist and geneticist with a focus on Hawaiian flora. He’s our other major collaborator at the university of Hawai’i helping out with theWikstroemia project.