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Education: B. Sc.,
Botany, Zoology, 1994, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg; B. Sc. (Hons), Zoology, 1995, University of Cape Town;
Ph. D., Zoology, 2001, University of Cape Town.
Appointments:
Assistant Curator (Arachnids and
Myriapods), Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of
Natural History, New York (2002–).
Adjunct Appointments:
Adjunct Professor, Department of
Biology, City University of New York (2003–); Adjunct Professor,
Department of Entomology, Cornell University (2004–); Research
Associate, Transvaal Museum of Natural History, Pretoria (2004–).
Research Interests:
My primary research interests lie in
the empirical study of phylogeny, macroevolution, speciation,
biogeography, and comparative evolutionary biology, using scorpions
and minor arachnid orders (Amblypygi, Uropygi, Solifugae and
Schizomida) as model organisms. One of my current research projects
is a rigorous global phylogeny of the Scorpiones, using morphology
and DNA. Besides investigating phylogenetic relationships among the
major lineages of scorpions, I have specific interests in
revisionary systematics, particularly of the Afrotropical scorpion
fauna. I am revising the scorpion genera in southern Africa,
including phylogenetic analyses based on morphological and molecular
data, and preparing an atlas of their distribution, based on
material contained in the world’s collections and new material
collected during ongoing expeditions. I am also developing a
research program into the systematics of other, poorly known
arachnid orders, notably Amblypygi, Uropygi, Schizomida, and
Solifugae, and serve on the ATOL Phylogeny of Spiders project (http://research.amnh.org/atol/files/)
in this capacity.
Role in REVSYS
project:
I serve as
Principal Investigator, coordinating research, training and
administration of the REVSYS Vaejovidae project, which interfaces
closely with my larger program on the higher phylogeny and
classification of scorpions, as well as my revisionary syntheses of
Afrotropical scorpion taxa. I am responsible for the acquisition of
molecular data for the project, for scoring the morphology of
vaejovid outgroups and addressing the monophyly of the family. I
contribute experience in databasing, digital imaging, GIS, automated
DNA sequencing, and quantitative phylogenetic analysis, and serve as
the Ph.D. advisor of Edmundo González. |
