About the department:

The Plant Biology department at Michigan State is really neat because there are great plant evolutionary biologists and ecologists and also great plant biologists who work on cellular, molecular, and physiological questions but are interested in thinking about how their work relates to evolution. MSU has lots of faculty in other departments doing evolutionary biology too. It's been really fun so far.

About the research:

We're broadly interested in understanding how various evolutionary forces shape patterns of genetic variation and trait variation in natural and domesticated plant species. Questions in this realm include: Why does genetic variation persist within populations and across species ranges? How do plants adapt to their local environments (if they do)? What evolutionary forces shape genotype x environment interactions? We tackle these questions using population genomic and quantitative genetic techniques with a focus on thinking about quantitative traits and gene expression.

What has been the biggest challenge as a new PI so far?

Decision fatigue. It's been pretty exhausting to constantly make choices ranging from small (What kind of pipettes to buy? Which program should I pitch this grant idea to?) to large (Who to hire? What projects to focus on?). It feels like these decisions will have really big consequences for my next few years, so I end up spending a lot of time on them. I've only been here for six months, so still don't really know how to cope with this, but it has helped to get advice from other professors. I'm hoping that over time it will all fall into place, or, I'll get so busy that I won't have time to wallow over decisions and I'll just make them.

What has been the biggest surprise so far about being a new PI?

It's a little lonely! I thought that having my own office would be the best, but I actually miss having officemates who I see every day.

Are you recruiting? If so, how do you/ will you choose new lab members?

I am recruiting! The most important thing as I start the lab is finding lab members who are excited about the science we do and will be good lab citizens who contribute to a supportive lab environment.

Do you have a funny story to share from an Evolution Meeting?

During the evolution meeting in Ottawa (2012), there was a march on Canadian Parliament to protest the Harper government's anti-science policies. It was organized during lunchtime and I think a lot of people just wandered into it sort of accidentally. I lived in Canada then so I had pretty strong feelings about the politics, but I remember being really amused to look around and see a bunch of non-Canadian scientists enjoying themselves on the march too. It was sunny and Parliament Hill is really pretty, so I think everyone had a pretty good time.

When was your first Evolution Meeting, and how did it affect your career?

My first evolution meeting (and conference in general) was in Portland in 2010. I was driving from my parents' house in Los Angeles to Toronto, where I'd start my PhD, and I stopped on the way. I remember being so amazed at the breadth of science being discussed at the meeting and I totally wore myself out running from talk to talk. I gave my first ever poster and was pretty anxious, especially because none of my former mentors were at the meeting, but everyone that came to my poster was so friendly and supportive. Being at that meeting made me really feel like I was part of a larger evolutionary biology community and I also met a couple of (then) graduate students who are now good friends.

Do you teach evolution? What concept blows students’ minds?

I haven't started teaching at MSU yet, but I remember from my years TA-ing a human genomics and evolution course that students were really amazed by the idea that you could use genomic variation to understand the past. My co-TA, Robert Williamson, wrote this beautiful mini-lecture walking through a paper using genomic variation to infer timing and strength migration events in Caribbean humans, and we got a lot of positive feedback about it.

Do you have a time management tip to share?

During my postdoc, I started keeping a bullet-style journal to organize my daily, weekly, and monthly goals and that's been really helpful for keeping focus. I like being able to look back and see how I've been using my time. This is helpful for noticing things like "wow, I really spend too much time writing emails" and for banishing imposter syndrome thoughts like "I haven't gotten anything done today." (Yes, I did get stuff done, but what I got done was writing a lot of emails!!).

What book should every evolutionary biologist read?

I don't have a specific book but, instead, a suggestion that evolutionary biologists should read non-science books too. A friend gave me this advice when I started grad school and I've found that it's really helpful for me to spend time thinking about stuff that isn't work. I recently read the Ancillary Justice series by Ann Leckie, which I really loved, and now I'm working my way through Grant by Ron Chernow, which is a bit daunting to be honest because it's a really big book!

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I love biking now, but I actually didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was 21. I worked in Annie Schmitt's lab as an undergrad and she sent me to the Max Planck Institute in Cologne to work on a common garden experiment for a summer. I got there and realized that the only way to really get around was by bike, so I ended up spending the first weekend learning. I fell down a lot, it was pretty embarrassing.