Recent projects in her laboratory focus on the systematics, biogeography, evolution of cicadas worldwide, the application of information on molecular evolutionary processes to the improvement of tree-building, speciation and its relationship to past climates and landforms, evolution of periodical life cycles, the role of song in the evolution of insect species, and molecular evolution of the secondary structure of ribosomal RNA. Funding for these research projects has come from the US National Science Foundation, NZ Marsden Fund, The National Geographic Society, the Fulbright Foundation, the University of Connecticut and Victoria University of Wellington.