University of Hull, 1997-present University of California, Riverside, USA, 1994-1997 University of East Anglia, PhD, 1990-1994

My lab investigates problems in evolutionary biology using DNA and bioinformatic technologies. I’m interested in evolutionary comparative genomics, gene duplication, large-scale phylogenetics and the molecular basis of adaptive ecological change. I’m particularly interested in the way in which the evolutionary forces of recombination, selection, mutation and drift influence genomic content. In addition we also work on projects using phylogenetics and DNA barcoding to better understand biodiversity and the speciation process.

Some projects currently underway in my laboratory:

Gene copy number variation and cichlid adaptive radiation The genomics of asexual reproduction in nematodes Comparative genomics and the evolution of genome content Bioinformatic pipelines, phylogenetics, and SGS data DNA barcoding of agriculturally important species

Moss SP, Joyce DA, Humphries S, Tindall KJ, Lunt DH (2011) Comparative analysis of teleost genome sequences reveals an ancient intron size expansion in the zebrafish lineage. Genome Biology And Evolution, 3:1187–1196 Joyce DA, Lunt DH, Genner MJ, Turner GF, Bills R, Seehausen O. (2011) Repeated colonization and hybridization in Lake Malawi cichlids. Current Biology 2011 Feb 8;21(3):R108-9. PMID: 21300271doi:10.1016/j.cub.2010.11.029 Bik HM, WK Thomas, DH Lunt and PJD Lambshead (2010) Low endemism, continued deep-shallow interchanges, and evidence for cosmopolitan distributions in free-living marine nematodes (order Enoplida).BMC Evolutionary Biology 2010, 10:389 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-10-389 Bik H.M., PJD Lambshead, W.K. Thomas and D.H. Lunt (2010) Moving towards a complete molecular framework of the Nematoda: a focus on the Enoplida and early-branching clades. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10:353 Lunt, D.H. (2008) Genetic tests of ancient asexuality in Root Knot Nematodes reveal recent hybrid origins. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2008, 8:194 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-194