The broad goal of my research is to understand causes of infertility. Currently, I am studying meiotic recombination rate. Too few recombination events leads to infertility, therefore proper recombination is essential for gamete production and thus species survival. It is well established that recombination rate varies widely across species, individuals, and even within an individual's gamete pool. However, the exact loci and mechanisms controlling these variations are largely unknown. I am working to identify the loci responsible for recombination rate variation, as well as working to understand the exact relationship between recombination rate and fertility.
