During my first year as a graduate student, I worked on illuminating the evolutionary relationships and biogeographic history of a group of angiosperms in the Caribbean. While conducting these studies and conversing with scientists, I realized that from a broader perspective (rather than focusing on a specific set of taxa), a greater objective is to seek the general underlying biogeographic patterns between and within clades of organisms through computational methods. This would have a broader impact in science. I now strive to improve current methods and develop new methods in historical biogeography and trait evolution. It is my objective that the methods I develop will serve as useful tools for scientists to ask a more diverse set of interesting scientific questions.

• Programming: a practical skill needed for method development.
• Creativity: a skill needed for designing methods and having interdisciplinary approaches.
• Passion: this skill will communicate to others the importance of your research. It will also keep you interested and motivated.
• Curiosity: this skill will allow you to explore what we already know, and how you can add to the scientific pool of knowledge.
• Perseverance: this skill will keep you going during tough times when things are not well. Keep persevering and you will triumph in your endeavors.

I have mostly taught myself computer programming. However, my graduate advisor, Brian O'Meara, has given me much advice on how to improve my skills.

I have a biology background, so most of my math and statistics knowledge is through extra courses, workshops and seminars I have taken in programming, statistics and math. I read books and scientific articles to understand math and statistic models that I am not familiar with. Conversations with my lab mates as well as experts have helped my quantitative skills in these areas.

I am interested in addressing trait evolution and historical biogeography of species through phylogenetic methods. My work seeks to: 1) understand diversification of parasitic plants, and 2) develop new parametric methods in historical biogeography and trait evolution.

The following are questions I address in my research:

• How does escalation in the food chain affect parasitic plant diversification?
• Can we infer past ranges of species, and if so, can that give us more information to predict their future range?
• Is biogeography important to the evolution of biodiversity?
• How important is geological history in the evolution of taxa?

The words of E.O. Wilson from his Letters to a Young Scientist, really struck me as a first year graduate student. He urges young scientists to stay in the path they have chosen and let themselves travel that path far, for the world needs scientists badly to keep up with the rapid growth of scientific knowledge. Technology is also growing and has become an integral part of biology -- we need computational biologists like you to help.