My research seeks to understand the processes structuring large-scale patterns of biodiversity. I specialise in the use and development of phylogenetic comparative methods and large datasets to address fundamental questions about the forces shaping Earth’s biodiversity and the factors responsible for maintaining it. I work on a broad range of macro-scale ecological and evolutionary questions, often using birds as a model system. In particular, I am interested in understanding the interaction between sexual selection and ecology in driving evolutionary dynamics within birds and across the Tree of Life. My key research topics include: The evolution of sexual signalling traits Sexual dimorphism, sexual selection and speciation The drivers of speciation rate variation Geographic and taxonomic diversity gradients The causes and consequences of species co-existence