R. Alexander Pyron
I am currently studying under a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics (NSF Summary) at Stony Brook University, in the lab of Dr. John J. Wiens. My fellowship research involves an investigation of the underlying evolutionary forces responsible for the distribution of global biodiversity patterns in amphibians and squamates.
More generally, my research focuses on theoretical and applied methods in statistical phylogenetics, using reptiles and amphibians. In an organismal context, I study the factors that drive speciation at local geographic scales, and the evolutionary forces responsible for broad-scale macroecological patterns in the distribution and diversity of extant species. I am also interested in statistical and analytical methodologies for divergence time estimation and phylogenetic inference using multi-locus species-tree methods.