My laboratory uses bacteria in laboratory evolution experiments to study the ecology and genetics of adaptation. We currently have three main research themes. The specific topics addressed are the evolution of bacterial transformation and competence, the causes and consequences of within population phenotypic heterogeneity, and the evolution and ecology of bacteriocins. In addition to our bacterial work, we also study the evolution and ecology of insect-bacterial interactions in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides.