Vita
Education
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2017 Ph.D Biology
University of California, Los Angeles
Advisor: Michael E Alfaro -
2011 B.S. Biology, minor in Conservation Biology
University of California, Los Angeles
Appointments
- 2018–2020 Monash University
- 2018 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Honors & Awards
- (2017) UCLA. A. M. Schechtman Award for distinguished teaching.
- (2016) Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. David and Marvalee Wake Award for best student presentation. (link)
Grants & Fellowships
- (2017) UCLA. George A. Bartholomew Fellowship and Research Award. $9,000
- (2016) National Science Foundation. Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (Co-PI). Testing macroevolutionary predictions of diversity and disparity in the ray-finned fishes. $20,020 (DEB-1601830)
- (2013) Encyclopedia of Life. David M. Rubenstein Fellowship (PI). Using massively crowdsourced data to examine morphological impacts of extinction risk in ray-finned fishes. $52,280 (EOL-33066-13)
- (2010) UCLA. Whitcome Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Phylogenomic approaches to resolving evolutionary relationships among ray-finned fishes. $3,000 (link)
Publications
Google Scholar profile: 2350 citations; h-index: 15; i10-index: 17
Peer-reviewed manuscripts
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(2021) BF Melo, BL Sidlauskas, TJ Near, FF Roxo, A Ghezelayagh, LE Ochoa, MLJ Stiassny, J Arroyave, J Chang, BC Faircloth, DJ MacGuigan, RC Harrington, RC Benine, MD Burns, K Hoekzema, NC Sanches, JA Maldonado Ocampo, RMC Castro, F Foresti, ME Alfaro, C Oliveira. Accelerated diversification explains the exceptional species richness of tropical characoid fishes. Systematic Biology 71(1):78-92 doi:10.1093/sysbio/syab040
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(2020) LE Ochoa, A Datovo, C DoNascimiento, FF Roxo, MH Sabaj, J Chang, BF Melo, GSC Silva, F Foresti, ME Alfaro, C Oliveira. Phylogenomic analysis of trichomycterid catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes) inferred from ultraconserved elements. Scientific Reports 10(1):2697 doi:10.1038/s41598-020-59519-w
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(2020) E Gjesfjeld, D Silvestro, J Chang, B Koch, JG Foster, ME Alfaro. A quantitative workflow for modeling diversification in material culture. PLOS ONE 15(2):e0227579 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227579
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(2019) J Chang, DL Rabosky, ME Alfaro. Estimating diversification rates on incompletely sampled phylogenies: theoretical concerns and practical solutions. Systematic Biology 69(3):602-611 doi:10.1093/sysbio/syz081 [link]
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(2019) J Chang, DL Rabosky, SA Smith, ME Alfaro. An R package and online resource for macroevolutionary studies using the ray-finned fish tree of life. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 10(7):1118-1124 doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13182
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(2019) FF Roxo, LE Ochoa, MH Sabaj, NK Lujan, R Covain, GSC Silva, BF Melo, JS Albert, J Chang, F Foresti, ME Alfaro, C Oliveira. Phylogenomic reappraisal of the Neotropical catfish family Loricariidae (Teleostei: Siluriformes) using ultraconserved elements. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 135:148-165 doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.02.017
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(2018) JD DiBattista, ME Alfaro, L Sorenson, JH Choat, JA Hobbs, TH Sinclair-Taylor, LA Rocha, J Chang, OJ Luiz, PF Cowman, M Friedman, ML Berumen. Ice ages and butterflyfishes: Phylogenomics elucidates the ecological and evolutionary history of reef fishes in an endemism hotspot. Ecology and Evolution 8(22):10989-11008 doi:10.1002/ece3.4566
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(2018) DL Rabosky, J Chang, PO Title, PF Cowman, L Sallan, M Friedman, K Kaschner, C Garilao, TJ Near, M Coll, ME Alfaro. An inverse latitudinal gradient in speciation rate for marine fishes. Nature 559(7714):392-395 doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0273-1
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(2018) G Burin, LRV de Alencar, J Chang, ME Alfaro, TB Quental. How well can we estimate diversity dynamics for clades in diversity decline?. Systematic Biology 68(1):47-62 doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy037 [link]
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(2018) SV Liu, B Frédérich, S Lavoué, J Chang, MV Erdmann, GN Mahardika, PH Barber. Buccal venom gland associates with increased of diversification rate in the fang blenny fish Meiacanthus (Blenniidae; Teleostei). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 125:138-146 doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.027
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(2018) MGM Lima, J de Sousa e Silva-Júnior, D Černý, JC Buckner, A Aleixo, J Chang, J Zheng, ME Alfaro, A Di Fiore, JP Boubli, JW Lynch Alfaro. A phylogenomic perspective on the robust capuchin monkey (Sapajus) radiation: First evidence for extensive population admixture across South America. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 214:137-150 doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.02.023
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(2017) DL Rabosky, JS Mitchell, J Chang. Is BAMM flawed? Theoretical and practical concerns in the analysis of multi-rate diversification models. Systematic Biology 66(4):477-498 doi:10.1093/sysbio/syx037
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(2016) E Gjesfjeld, J Chang, D Silvestro, C Kelty, ME Alfaro. Competition and extinction explain the evolution of diversity in American automobiles. Palgrave Communications 2(1):16019 doi:10.1057/palcomms.2016.19
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(2015) J Chang, ME Alfaro. Crowdsourced geometric morphometrics enable rapid large-scale collection and analysis of phenotypic data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 7(4):472-482 doi:10.1111/2041-210x.12508
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(2015) PS Gilbert, J Chang, E Sobel, JS Sinsheimer, BC Faircloth, ME Alfaro. Genome-wide ultraconserved elements exhibit higher phylogenetic informativeness than traditional gene markers for the fish series Percomorpha. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 92:140-146 doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.05.027
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(2013) DL Rabosky, F Santini, JM Eastman, SA Smith, BL Sidlauskas, J Chang, ME Alfaro. Rates of speciation and morphological evolution are correlated across the largest vertebrate radiation. Nature Communications 4:1958 doi:10.1038/ncomms2958
Other manuscripts
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(2012) BC Faircloth, J Chang, ME Alfaro. TAPIR enables high-throughput estimation and comparison of phylogenetic informativeness incorporating locus-specific substitution models. [arXiv:1202.1215]
Presentations
Invited presentations
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(2021) Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 21–25, Phoenix, Arizona
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(2021) iEvoBio, June 26 (online)
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(2021) Systematics, Biogeography, and Evolution, June 22 (online)
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(2020) American Museum of Natural History, October 5, New York, NY
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(2019) Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research, May 19–23, Olympic Valley, CA
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(2019) Museums Victoria, February 15, Melbourne, Australia
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(2019) Université de Liège, February 6, Liège, Belgium
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(2018) Monash University, November 1, Melbourne, Australia
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(2017) Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research, May 21–25, Olympic Valley, CA
Contributed presentations
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(2024) RM Pirani, F Domingos, J Chang, FdP Werneck, MR Moura, ME Alfaro. Amphibian speciation rate is determined by topography and body size. Brazilian Congress on Evolutionary Biology, November 20–22, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
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(2024) D Kopčak, J Chang, C Nash, I Trinidade-Santos, ME Alfaro, L Sallan. Diversity imbalance is pervasive across vertebrate trees. Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology, July 26–30, Montreal, Canada (Poster)
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(2023) I Trinidade-Santos, ME Alfaro, J Chang, L Sallan. Macroevolutionary patterns of diversity imbalance and persistence of depauperate lineages across fishes. Indo-Pacific Fish Conference and the Australian Society for Fish Biology, November 20–24, Auckland, New Zealand
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(2021) JA Sime, J Chang, ME Alfaro, L Sallan. Megaphylogenies elucidate the pervasiveness and ecology of the ‘living-fossil’ phenomenon. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 21–25, Phoenix, Arizona
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(2020) J Chang, MD McGee. Tree thinking for comparative genomics: lessons from whole genome sequencing in killifishes. Systematic Biology, January 3–6, Gainesville, FL
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(2019) J Chang. A macroevolutionary perspective on the distribution of commercially exploited fish species. Australian Society for Fish Biology, October 14–18, Canberra, Australia
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(2019) J Chang, MD McGee. Comparative genomics and the evolution of lifespan in ray-finned fishes. Australian Academy of Sciences Boden Research Conference, August 2–4, Melbourne, Australia
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(2019) J Chang, MD McGee. Comparative genomics and the evolution of lifespan in ray-finned fishes. Evolution, June 21–25, Providence, RI
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(2019) ME Alfaro, EA Karan, J Chang, LK Woo. High throughput phenoscaping for comparative studies. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Tampa, FL
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(2019) J Chang, ME Alfaro, DL Rabosky. Extending and remixing the complete ray-finned fish tree of life via fishtreeoflife.org. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Tampa, FL
Older presentations
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(2018) JW Lynch Alfaro, MG Lima, D Černý, J Chang, J Zheng, JC Buckner, ME Alfaro, A Martins, J de Sousa e Silva-Júnior, A Aleixo. Phylogenomics and population genomic analyses for the Neotropical robust capuchin monkey radiation: UCEs reveal extensive population admixture within Sapajus. International Primatological Society, August 19–25, Nairobi, Kenya
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(2018) J Chang, DL Rabosky, ME Alfaro. Incomplete sampling in phylogenies: when likelihoods go flat. Systematic Biology, June 1–4, Columbus, OH
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(2018) J Chang, ME Alfaro. Building the complete ray-finned fish tree of life. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, San Francisco, CA
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(2017) JA Sime, J Chang, ME Alfaro, L Sallan. Does the ecology of clade imbalance explain the “living fossil” phenomenon within a mega-phylogeny of ray-finned (actinopterygian) fishes?. Geological Society of America, October 22–25, Seattle, WA
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(2017) JA Sime, J Chang, ME Alfaro, L Sallan. Pervasive diversity imbalance among sister clades of ray-fin fishes. Evolution, June 23–27, Portland, OR
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(2017) J Chang, ME Alfaro. A complete ray-finned fish phylogeny using taxonomy and birth-death models. Evolution, June 23–27, Portland, OR (Poster)
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(2017) J Chang, PF Cowman, M Friedman, LC Sallan, JT Clarke, ME Alfaro. A complete ray-finned fish phylogeny using taxonomy and birth-death models. Systematic Biology, January 8–10, Baton Rogue, LA
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(2017) J Chang, K Roy, JK Baum, PF Cowman, M Friedman, LC Sallan, JT Clarke, ME Alfaro. Size-selective harvesting and the macroevolutionary implications of an “anthropogenic filter” in ray-finned fishes. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 4–8, New Orleans, LA
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(2016) J Chang, K Roy, JK Baum, ME Alfaro. Size-selective harvesting and the macroevolutionary impacts of the “anthropogenic filter” in ray-finned fishes. Southwest Organismal Biologists, November 19, Fullerton, CA (Poster)
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(2016) J Chang, K Roy, JK Baum, ME Alfaro. Size-selective harvesting and the macroevolutionary impacts of the “anthropogenic filter” in ray-finned fishes. Luskin Inaugural Symposium, October 19, Los Angeles, CA (Poster)
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(2016) EJ Gjesfjeld, J Chang, D Silvestro, ME Alfaro. Modeling diversification dynamics in the pharmaceutical industry. Human Behavior and Evolution, June 28–July 2, Vancouver, BC (Poster)
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(2016) J Chang, K Roy, JK Baum, PF Cowman, M Friedman, LC Sallan, JT Clarke, ME Alfaro. Eating away the fish tree of life: the phylogenetic distribution of human exploitation. Evolution, June 17–21, Austin, TX
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(2016) ME Alfaro, J Chang, PF Cowman, M Friedman, LC Sallan, JT Clarke, DL Rabosky, TJ Near. An evolutionary timescale for the diversification of ray-finned fishes. Evolution, June 17–21, Austin, TX
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(2016) EJ Gjesfjeld, J Chang, D Silvestro, C Kelty, ME Alfaro. A quantitative macroevolutionary approach to exploring the pharmaceutical drug innovation crisis. Evolution, June 17–21, Austin, TX
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(2016) J Chang, ME Alfaro. The tempo of body shape evolution in ray-finned fishes: bringing morphology into the “phenomic era” with crowdsourced morphometrics. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Portland, OR (Won David and Marvalee Wake Award for Best Student Presentation)
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(2016) ME Alfaro, DL Rabosky, J Chang, P Title, M Venzon. Global patterns of diversification across the ray-finned fish tree of life. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Portland, OR
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(2016) MB Balisi, J Chang. Hypercarnivory and extinction risk in North American fossil dogs. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Portland, OR (Poster)
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(2015) EJ Gjesfjeld, J Chang, D Silvestro, C Kelty, ME Alfaro. Investigating the diversification of car models using macroevolutionary methods. Evolution, June 26–30, Guarujá, Brazil
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(2015) J Chang, ME Alfaro. Patterns of shape diversity across ray-finned fishes with crowdsourced morphometrics. Evolution, June 26–30, Guarujá, Brazil (Ernst Mayr Symposium)
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(2015) EJ Gjesfjeld, J Chang, D Silvestro, ME Alfaro. Investigating the diversification of car models using macroevolutionary methods. Human Behavior and Evolution, May 27–30, Columbia, MO (Poster)
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(2015) J Chang, ME Alfaro. Crowdsourced morphometrics for large-scale analysis of phenotypic data. Systematic Biology, May 20–22, Ann Arbor, MI
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(2015) J Chang, ME Alfaro. Crowdsourced morphometric data are as accurate as traditionally collected data in 7 ray-finned fish families. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, West Palm Beach, FL
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(2015) MD McGee, SR Borstein, J Chang, ME Alfaro, PC Wainwright. Progressive functional innovation in cichlid adaptive radiations. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, West Palm Beach, FL
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(2014) J Zheng, J Chang, ME Alfaro. Novel approach measures the topological accuracy of large phylogenetic reconstruction. UCLA Biology Research Symposium., May 17, Los Angeles, CA (Jimmy won Best Student Presentation)
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(2014) J Chang, DL Rabosky, ME Alfaro. Crowdsourced morphometrics: a method to overcome bottlenecks in collecting phenotype data. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Austin, TX
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(2013) J Chang, DL Rabosky, ME Alfaro. Morphology and exploitation in ray-finned fishes using crowdsourced data. Evolution, June 21–25, Snowbird, UT
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(2013) J Chang, JM Eastman, ME Alfaro. Family-level analysis of exploited and at-risk ray-finned fish species shows high potential loss of biodiversity. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, San Francisco, CA
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(2012) J Chang, K Roy, JM Eastman, SA Smith, F Santini, JK Baum, PA Hastings, BL Sidlauskas, ME Alfaro. Phylogenetic clustering of commercially exploited fish species. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Charleston, SC
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(2012) ME Alfaro, BC Faircloth, L Sorenson, J Chang, F Santini. A 500-locus phylogenomic study of ray-finned fishes. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Charleston, SC
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(2012) PS Gilbert, J Chang, BC Faircloth, ME Alfaro. Genome-wide ultraconserved elements exhibit higher phylogenetic informativeness than traditional fish markers. Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, Charleston, SC (Poster)
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(2011) ME Alfaro, K Roy, J Chang, JM Eastman, SA Smith, F Santini, JK Baum, PA Hastings, BL Sidlauskas. Phylogenetic distribution of commercially exploited fish species: How many times has ‘tastiness’ evolved?. Evolution, June 17–21, Norman, OK
Teaching
Additional information: Teaching page
Courses
As instructor of record
- (2018) Instructor (50%). Genetics, Evolution, and Ecology. Lower division.
- (2016–2017) TA Consultant (100%). Preparation for Teaching Biology in Higher Education. Graduate. 3x
As teaching assistant
- (2017) TA. Genetics, Evolution, and Ecology. Lower division.
- (2011–2015) TA/Head TA. Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity. Lower division. 11x
- (2015) TA. Practical Computing for Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists. Upper division/Graduate.
- (2013) TA. Ecology. Upper division.
- (2013) TA. Comparative Biology and Macroevolution. Upper division/Graduate.
Workshops
- (2017) Panelist. Experienced STEM TAs. UCLA Office of Instructional Development.
- (2017) Organizer. Success in Science Bootcamp. UCLA Psychology and EEB.
- (2017) Instructor. Writing Successful Grant and Fellowship Applications (Science and Engineering Focus). UCLA Graduate Writing Center.
- (2010–2017) Assistant. Introduction to R for Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists. UCLA. 8x
- (2017) Consultant. Academic Job Market Summer Intensive Workshop for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars in STEM. UCLA Career Center.
- (2017) Instructor. Analysis of Diversification Rates from Phylogenies. Oregon State University.
- (2016–2017) Instructor. Teaching Scientific Writing. UCLA Office of Instructional Development. 2x
- (2016) Instructor. NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant Workshop. UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
- (2016) Instructor. Time Management for TAs. UCLA Office of Instructional Development.
- (2013–2015) Instructor. Workshop in Conservation Genomics. UCLA La Kretz Center. 3x
Mentoring
- Maya Chari (2022–2024, UCLA), Jonathan Chau (2021–2022, UCLA), Bhrugu Bharathi (2022, UCLA), Bhuvan Kommineni (2022, UCLA), Austyn Adams (2022, UCLA), Lindsay Reedy (2022, UCLA), Kevin Wang (2021, UCLA), Natalie Zhu (2021, UCLA), Chris Rice (2015–2018, UCLA), Binal Patel (2015, UCLA), Jimmy Zheng (2014, UCLA), Zack Herbst (2012–2014, Chadwick School, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA)
Other
- (2016–2017) Writing Consultant. UCLA, Graduate Writing Center.
Service
Professional
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Reviewer for: Evolution (2024), Communications Biology (2024), Systematic Biology (2016–2022), Molecular Biology and Evolution (2020), Nature Communications (2019–2020), Current Zoology (2020), American Naturalist (2020), Methods in Ecology and Evolution (2019–2020), PLOS ONE (2019), Ecography (2017–2019), Journal of Biogeography (2018–2019), Bioinformatics (2018), Journal of Evolutionary Biology (2018), BMC Evolutionary Biology (2016)
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(2022—) National Science Foundation, Reviewer
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(2023—) Society of Systematic Biologists, Grants Reviewer
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(2022) Experiment Foundation, Grants Reviewer
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(2017–2020) Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee
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(2018–2020) Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Broadening Participation Mentorship Program
University
- (2021—) UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Research Symposium, Judge
- (2016–2017) UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty–Grad Liason
- (2015–2017) UCLA Teaching Assistant Conference, Panelist
- (2014–2015) UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Seminar and EcoEvoPub Committee
Outreach
- (2014–2017) Los Angeles County Science Fair, Judge
- (2016) UCLA Art/Sci LASER Symposium, Panelist
- (2013–2015) Exploring Your Universe, Volunteer
Software
Additional information: Software page
- (2022–2023) tea.xyz, Inc., Packaging Consultant
- (2019–2023) Homebrew package manager, Project Leadership Committee
- (2016–2023) Homebrew and Brewsci package managers, Maintainer
Scientific affiliations
- (2013—) Society of Systematic Biologists (life member)
- (2013—) Society for the Study of Evolution (life member)
- (2019–2020) Australian Society for Fish Biology
- (2011–2020) Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Travel awards
- (2019) iEvoBio. iEvoBio Travel Award. $252
- (2019) Monash University. Early Career Researcher National Conference Support Award. $500
- (2017) Society of Systematic Biologists. NSF Travel Stipend. $500
- (2017) UCLA. Conference/Travel Award. $1,500
- (2016) University of Maine. NSF AVATOL Travel Stipend. $750
- (2015) UCLA. Research and Travel Grant. $1,991
- (2014) University of Washington. Stephen and Ruth Wainwright Fellowship. $1,200
- (2014) UCLA. Conference and Research Grant. $1,500
- (2014) National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. Travel Award. $600
- (2013) Society for the Study of Evolution. Travel Stipend. $500