Colin is a theoretical population geneticist with a special interest in the evolutionary consequences of sex-specific selection for species without separate sexes. Most of his work is inspired by the outrageous diversity of flowering plant reproductive traits, mating systems, sexual systems, and ploidy level. Many of his interests require generalizing classic models of sex-specific selection to accommodate key features of hermaphrodite reproduction like self-compatibility and partial self-fertilization. His research asks questions like what are the factors that maintain sexually antagonistic genetic variation in self-compatible hermaphroditic populations? Or how do sex-specific selection and linkage interact to determine whether separate sexes can evolve from hermaphroditism? More recently, his work has addressed the interaction between sex-specific selection and local adaptation in hermaphrodites, and questions relating to sex chromosome evolution. To explore these questions, he uses population genetic models in combination with analytic solutions and numerical simulations. Although his current research focuses on population genetics theory, he still very much enjoys evolutionary, pollination, and network ecology.
