This workshop will introduce you to the theory and practice of statistical phylogenetics. You will be taught by faculty from world-class universities, all of whom are experts in the theory and practice that you will be taught.
Phylogenetic methods have revolutionized modern systematics and become indispensable tools in evolution, ecology and comparative biology, playing an increasingly important role in analyses of biological data at all levels of organization ranging from molecules to ecological communities. The estimation of phylogenetic trees is now a formalized statistical problem with general agreement on the central issues and questions. A nearly standard set of topics is now taught as part of the curriculum at many colleges and universities. On the other hand, application of phylogenetic methods to novel problems outside systematics is an area of special excitement, innovation, and controversy, and perspectives vary widely.
This Spring, for the eighteenth year, we will teach a workshop for graduate students interested in applying phylogenetic methods to diverse topics in biology. The 8-day course is an intensive exploration of problems to which modern phylogenetic approaches are being applied and the most current statistical tools and methods that are used to solve those problems. We cover a wide range of topics in comparative statistical phylogenetics. The course starts with recent advances in phylogenetic inference, and then focuses on methods for making inferences from phylogenies.
{"The course will be held at the Bodega Marine Laboratory on the beautiful Northern California coast, which has on-site housing. The course format will involve equal parts of lecture and hands-on software training with an emphasis on performing analyses using RevBayes"=>"http://revbayes.github.io, with instruction in other inference software (MrBayes, BEAST, etc.) based on student interest. One afternoon during the week will be left free for field trips to local natural areas."}