My research concentrates on the study of the evolutionary and conservation biology of mammals, especially the members of the Carnivora. I use multivariate and geometric statistical analyses to examine the covariance between morphology and genetics, behavior, ecology and biogeography. The status of sub-fossil beavers from Scotland. Hybridization between polecats and feral ferrets. Much of my early research has used traditional multivariate techniques to study variation in form.
Current research uses geometric morphometric techniques.
The overwhelming advantage of these techniques is that they allow graphical depiction of an organisms morphology along with total and exhaustive archiving of all aspects of size and shape. The techniques of geometric morphometrics have, as yet, received little application in the fields of evolutionary biology, systematics, functional morphology and conservation biology, having been largely confined to studies in the field of medical imaging. In addition to my studies of variation among carnivores, I have examined a number of other aspects of vertebrate biology. These will be available online soon. For the mean time, here are a number of SAS routines which I reference in papers stemming from my doctoral research.