I use genetics to study patterns of kinship, mating, and dispersal in natural populations, with an emphasis on understanding their evolutionary dynamics and impacts on individual behavior and population viability.
As a new adjunct faculty at the University of Utah, I am collaborating on a project investigating cultural and genetic variation in the contemporary human population of the Faroe Islands.
These isolated islands in the north Atlantic are ideal for studying patterns of cultural and genetic evolution. Our aim is to elucidate the underlying genetic dynamics (structure and migration) that accompany patterns of cultural variation. The genetic patterns, for which transmission rules are well known, will serve as a baseline template for testing hypotheses of cultural transmission.
