In general, I am interested in population and community ecology. My current emphasis is on the ecology of biological invasions, where I am investigating the role of enemy (i.e. herbivores, pathogens, parasites, ... , etc.) escape as a mechanism of invasion success for exotic plant species. Specifically, I am attempting to unravel the role of phylogeny in explaining biotic interactions between plants and herbivores: if exotics with close relatives are more likely to accumulate enemies , this may help explain variation in the degree to which enemy escape influences an invader's success. This work integrates into broader ecological and evolutionary questions that use phylogenetic information to understand patterns of biotic interactions and how they relate to community assembly.