Pascal O. Title,  Assistant Professor Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2018 Macroevolution, macroecology, species distribution modeling Email: pascal.title@stonybrook.edu Office: LS 672 Phone:  (631) 632-7773 Lab Website: Title Lab Website

Research Summary:

I am an evolutionary macroecologist who integrates geographic distributions, phylogenies and trait data to better understand global diversity patterns and the processes that have generated them. My work focuses on the following areas:

Large-scale patterns of diversity:
I explore the distribution of species diversity to better understand species ecology, evolutionary history and the assembly of continental biotas. In particular, I leverage the data-rich global network of natural history museums and observational databases, and pair species occurrence data with phenotypic data, phylogenies, geographic range and environmental data to investigate processes that have contributed to these patterns across continents. Past and ongoing projects explore Australian lizards and snakes, global marine fish diversity, and Neotropical tanagers.

Species responses to climate change:
Climatic conditions across the globe have been shifting over the last century, with changes in temperature and precipitation regimes. I am interested in exploring how species geographic ranges have shifted as a result, and how these shifts relate to the species' phylogenetic history.

Species distribution modeling:
A species’ geographic range is the result of a multitude of processes, including a species’ physiological response to climatic conditions, dispersal abilities, historical biogeography, and interactions with other species. Modeling geographic ranges is dependent on data availability and on our ability to account for biases in those data. I am interested in developing tools and resources in this area.

Diversification methods:
A major question in biology is why species diversity is unevenly distributed geographically, through time, and across the tree of life. To address this question, we need to properly quantify diversification patterns across phylogenies, which necessitates the development and evaluation of diversification methods. I have been involved with both theoretical and empirical work, and have also conducted simulation analyses to better understand how different diversification metrics perform under a variety of scenarios.