Evolutionary Theory & Genetics

We are interested in conflicts. Genetic conflicts, specifically. These arise whenever natural selection on one population (or subpopulation) moves another population (or subpopulation) further from its evolutionary optimum, and vice versa. These conflicts arise between the sexes, between parents and offspring, between genomes or cell lineages within a body, and between genes within a genome—to name just a few. We take a theoretical approach to our work and aim to reveal which aspects of biology might be shaped by conflicts and how. 

(So why is Darwin wearing a tinfoil hat in the photo? Richard Francis described the habit of relying on agency in evolutionary reasoning--e.g., sub-organismal machinators, selfish genes—as "Darwinian paranoia". This was meant as a criticism, but I've always liked the label.)