I do experiments with yeast to investigate the process of evolution and to test evolutionary theories. Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is an ideal laboratory model organism because it's a sexual eukaryote (just like us), but it reproduces and evolves very quickly, its genome is simple and well defined, and it's easy to genetically engineer. My work spans several research areas including the origin and maintenance of species, the evolution of social cooperation and conflict, sexual selection, and the evolution of sex. I'm also interested in the genetics, ecology, and natural history of wild yeast populations.