• Genetics
• Evolution
• Bioinformatics
• Human Genetics for pre-nursing students
• Ornithology
• The Human Body and Identity: Race, Gender, and Genetics

Dr. Sheehy's Homepage

Sequence data are rapidly becoming the characters of choice for reconstructing phylogenies, as well as for distinguishing the evolutionary forces acting at the DNA level. Both kinds of studies are necessary to develop specific models for how DNA sequences are expected to change over time. I am involved in studying micro-evolutionary mechanisms that generate diversity, identifying genes that are useful in the deep phylogeny of vertebrates and using neutral markers to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of organisms.

Processes of diversification are affected not only by selection and adaptation but also by population structure and patterns of gene flow. Analysis of genetic variation in small, isolated populations should allow us to distinguish historical and demographic events in the evolution of these populations. This, in turn, should help us understand the processes which lead to higher level changes such as speciation events.

My interest in biology first started with birds so it should be no surprise that I have used these taxa to examine speciation questions. My research has been at both the population and the family levels. Collaborative research projects have led to examination of links between genetics and behavioral ecology and genetics and dispersal in some avian taxa.