Nicholas Bone

IGC FELLOW    |   Global Change Center

Ph.D. Student  •   Biological Sciences  

Research Interests: Trait adaptation, phylogenetic comparative methods, and macroevolutionary dynamics

Advisor: Dr. Josef Uyeda

nicbone@vt.edu 

Nicholas Bone graduated from Beloit College with a B.S. in Ecology, Evolution and Behavioural Biology. While at Beloit, he conducted an independent research project which sought to identify potential clade-wide convergence of sexual size dimorphism in two lizard genera – Liolaemus and Sceloporus – using phylogenetic comparative methods. During this project, Nicholas became interested in the statistical methods used to model evolutionary change across Earth’s biodiversity. Now in pursuing his Ph.D, Nicholas hopes to tease out the nuances of trait adaptation at differing time-scales as well as understand and test the biological assumptions underlying the common methods of the field. He is particularly interested in how understanding evolutionary processes can provide a framework for conservation.

Nicholas’ participation in the IGC program is motivated by a desire to improve his ability to communicate the discoveries and problems of evolutionary biology to an interdisciplinary group. He believes that it is only with an interdisciplinary understanding that global issues such as biodiversity loss can be properly addressed and managed.