Dean  Adams

Dean Adams

Position
  • Distinguished Professor
I am an evolutionary biologist interested in the evolution of multivariate phenotypes. A primary emphasis of my research is the development of new analytical and statistical tools for quantifying multivariate phenotypes (morphometrics) and for characterizing patterns of phenotypic evolution. Current work in this area emphasizes the development of phylogenetic comparative methods for multivariate datasets, and morphometric methods for characterizing patterns of shape variation and covariation. I am the primary author and maintainer of the popular software R-package geomorph, which provides methods for shape analysis and for phylogenetic comparative analyses of high-dimensional data.

My research also has an empirical component, where we are interested in understanding micro- and macroevolutionary patterns of phenotypic diversification, and the historical and ecological processes responsible for them. We use a comparative phylogenetic framework to attain these goals, directing our empirical work primarily towards vertebrates, with a focus on plethodontid salamanders. Additional details of my research are described on our Research page.

Contact

Contact Info

341 Bessey Hall
Ames
,
IA
50011-4009

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and DISCLAIMER: Much of the research described in these web pages is supported in part by NSF grant DEB-2140720, and was previously supported by NSF grants DBI-1902511, DEB-1556379, DEB-1257287, DEB-1118884, DEB-0446758, DEB-012228, and their supplements. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. https://www.nsf.gov