People

Interested in joining?

We’re always looking for biologists, computer scientists, and statisticians who are interested in modeling evolutionary processes. Please contact Michael to ask about Postdoctoral, PhD Student (Biology or CS), and Undergraduate research opportunities. Messages from those seeking independent support through research fellowships are also most welcome. In your email, please share a statement of your research interests and/or your CV.

Fellowships:
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship
NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology
Living Earth Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellowship
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral Fellowship

Lab Values & Expectations
Read this document to learn more about the expectations and values our lab shares.

Current members

Michael Landis [CV]

Principal Investigator

I'm interested in learning how evolutionary processes behave and how Earth's biodiversity has changed over time. My research generally involves designing phylogenetic models of evolution, programming inference methods, and analyzing simulated and biological datasets.

Anna Nagel

Postdoctoral Researcher (joined 2025)

I’m an evolutionary biologist interested in developing and applying statistical genetic methods. Most of my work focuses on Bayesian inference methods on the interface of population genetics and phylogenetics.

Albert Christian Soewongsono

Postdoctoral Researcher (joined 2023)

I am an applied mathematician who is interested in developing models for the evolution of species. In my research, I have developed evolutionary models with process that depends on different factors, such as species age, time, and spatial information. My current research interest lies in developing evolutionary models that consider species interaction with their changing environmental conditions.

Raymond Castillo

Graduate Student (joined 2024)

I am broadly interested in modeling diversity over evolutionary timescales, currently focusing on chromosome evolution. Outside of science, you can find me playing my favorite TTRPGs, playing volleyball, or taking pictures of my cats! Funded by NSF GRFP.

Sean McHugh

Graduate Student (joined 2022)

Sean is fascinated by the evolution of ecological niches, reptile diversity, and all things coffee-related.

Helen He

Undergraduate (joined 2025)

Helen is studying parameter estimation for stochastic branching processes.

Visiting members

Gabriel Santos Garcia

Visiting Graduate Student (joined 2025)

Gabriel is a trained botanist with an interest in eco-evolutionary dynamics in space over time. His current project is studying bat diversification, biogeography, and diet evolution at continental and regional scales.