Integrating morphology and genomes to infer evolutionary timescales

Large biological datasets are accumulating at a fast pace, such as genome sequences from the EarthBiogenome project or 3D scan data from museum specimens. These datasets can be integrated to resolve evolutionary timelines and relationships among species, in turn allowing the testing of precise hypothesis about patterns of species diversification through time and their relationship to the past climatic and geological history of the planet, including extinction events. In this project, the student will work in the development and application of Bayesian MCMC methodologies for analysis of genomic and morphological data to resolve evolutionary timescales. The new methodologies will be applied to case studies on the diversification of plant and animals, allowing a deeper understanding of how biodiversity on Earth arose, and inform studies of the potential impacts of climate change on future biodiversity.