My interests are broad but mainly focus on the ecological and evolutionary factors that generate and determine the structure and dynamics of communities. In my research I combine theoretical and empirical work to develop predictive frameworks for understanding how species interactions and abiotic environmental factors determine the structure and dynamics of communities and how they drive population dynamics and the evolution of complex life histories. Most of my current research focuses on the impact of cannibalism and population size structure on community dynamics and their evolutionary consequences. This research partly overlaps with my work on the role of diseases in determining community structure and population dynamics.  Most of my research on evolutionary ecology examines how environmental variation shapes the evolution of life history strategies such as iteroparity and delayed maturity and the reaction norm of age and size at metamorphosis. Other continuing projects examine how the interaction between biotic factors (i.e. conspecific attraction, predation) and abiotic factors determines species distribution and Sexual monomorphism and female dominance in lemurs. Most of my empirical research has been on aquatic systems, including phytotelmata, temporary and permanent ponds and headwater streams, using amphibian and insects as model systems. My past research was mostly conducted in the tropics in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Currently, I am working in the temperate zone in the Southern Appalachian on two systems: a stream salamander system and a system of pond invertebrates with focus on dragonflies.