Jeremy Beaulieu

Principal Investigator
My research is mainly focused on developing new approaches to large tree construction and new phylogenetic comparative methods to gain insights into the evolution of the large flowering plant clades (most notably, campanulid angiosperms). By combining biogeographic history with morphological character information my hope is to better understand patterns of lineage diversification and its consequences on the distribution of biodiversity. My Google Scholar page is here. My CV is here.
Email: [email protected]

Diego Paredes Burneo

Postdoctoral Researcher
Diego joined the Beaulieu Lab as a postdoctoral researcher after completing his Ph.D. at Louisiana State University with Laura Lagomarsino. His research focuses on the evolution and diversification of plants in the Tropical Andes, particularly the high-elevation genus Brachyotum (Melastomataceae). His work integrates phylogenomics, phenotypic and geographic data, and field-based collections to understand the processes underlying rapid plant radiations, including the roles of phylogenetic conflict and introgression.
Email: [email protected]

Christopher Wilson

Graduate student, PhD
Chris' research deals with how climate change effects the distribution, phenology, and biology of non-Apis bees along side their plant partners. As bees are usually specific as to what pollens and nectars they are able to consume and develop on, it is a huge problem if they miss their window of opportunity for then their hosts are available. He is currently in his 5th year in our PhD program 
Email: [email protected]

Remington Motte

Graduate student, PhD
Remington is interested in how hybridization, introgression, and incomplete lineage sorting affect phylogenetic inference and ways of improving/developing phylogenetic network methods. Improving phylogenetic network methods will allow me to explore broad evolutionary questions and complex patterns of evolution.​ Remington is a third-year student. You can find his website here.
Email: [email protected]

Morgan Russell

Lab Alumnus​
Morgan's thesis explored the diversity within the Arisaema triphyllum group (commonly known as Jack-in-the-pulpit) using herbarium specimens. By applying machine learning to images of leaves and other plant features, he looked for patterns that revealed distinct groups. He also tested whether differences in chromosome number (ploidy) are linked to unique combinations of these traits. 
Email: [email protected]

Eric Hagen

Lab Alumnus​
​Eric’s dissertation focused on whole genome duplications in plants, especially angiosperms. He researches how polyploidy affects diversification, niche construction and exploitation, trait evolution, and other macroevolutionary processes. Additionally, Eric is interested in using scientific approaches to address philosophical problems in biology, including higher-level selection, methods of tree inference, and character individuation. You can find his Twitter here and his website here.
Email: eric.hagen@utoronto.ca

Thais Vasconcelos

Lab Alumnus
Thais was a postdoctoral researcher in the lab that worked on development of biologically realistic methods in macroevolution and analyses of large datasets of traits and distribution to address these questions.​ She is currently an Assistant Professor in EEB department at the University of Michigan.

James Boyko

Lab Alumnus
James graduated in Fall 2022. His work involved applying information theory to common phylogenetic comparative methods to quantify the limits of our knowledge. He also developed several novel hidden Markov models (HMMs) that allowed for arbitrary state space and allowed for testing continuous and discrete traits (an approach we call hOUwie). He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan.

Andrew Palmer

Lab Alumnus
Andrew was an undergraduate majoring in Biology and Sociology. His  work focused on geographic range modeling and population-level phylogenetics of an invasive honeysuckle, Lonicera maackii, which is taking over the forests around Fayetteville. He is currently a medical student at the University of Chicago.

Phoebe Bruffett

Lab Alumnus
Phoebe was an undergraduate researcher, joining the lab in Fall 2019 and graduated Spring 2022. Her work involved learning techniques for extracting and sequencing DNA, and inferring phylogenies from these data. She is currently a medical student at UAMS. 

Daniel Caetano

Lab Alumnus
Daniel was a postdoctoral researcher in the lab from 2017-2020. Daniel is an evolutionary biologist interested in phylogenetic comparative methods of trait evolution. The main driver of his research is to evaluate and develop novel ways to investigate the evolution of complex phenotypes applied across the tree of life in a variety of biological systems. His recent work involves comparative methods for multivariate data, multilayered phenotypes and fitting predictor functions to macroevolutionary patterns.​ Daniel is an Assistant Professor at Towson University in Fall 2022.

Peter Hasik

Lab Alumnus
Peter was in the lab from 2018-2020, and recently completed his Master's degree. His work focused on examining macroevolutionary signals in extinction risk.​ Peter currently works for Fish and Wildlife.