My research interests center on the ecology, biogeography, and evolution of birds. I am unapologetically curious about natural history and the pathways by which natural history observations catalyze significant ecological and evolutionary discoveries. Fieldwork plays an important role in my research objectives. My research program currently focuses on the avian microbiome, biogeography of the Ozark Mountains, the conservation biology of rare and declining bird species, and the phylogeny of birds based on whole genome evidence. I am currently conducting field studies in the Ozark Mountains, Jamaica, and the Sonoran Desert. I am one of the co-organizers of the Bird 10K genome project which seeks to obtain whole genome sequences of the 10,500+ species of living birds.