Tracy A Heath

Biography

His research seeks to understand how evolutionary forces have produced the patterns of biodiversity we observe in the Tree of Life. he is intensely motivated by the wide array of evolutionary questions that can be addressed with complex, biologically-realistic models of evolution applied to molecular, morphological, and paleontological data. Because of this, his research program focuses on developing and applying computational methods for understanding evolutionary processes in a phylogenetic context. His primary approach to developing phylogenetic tools is to apply new statistical models as priors using Bayesian inference methods. In particular, he is a developer for RevBayes, a software program for Bayesian inference of evolutionary parameters including (but not limited to) phylogeny, divergence times, rates of character evolution, population dynamics, rates of selection across a genome, and patterns of species diversification.

Research Interest

Statistical Phylogenetics, Macroevolution, Molecular Evolution.