Bret Larget

Bret Larget is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Statistics and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is affiliated with the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences. His research focuses on Bayesian computational methods in evolutionary biology, statistical genetics, and data science education. Larget earned his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and has held academic positions since 2002 at UW-Madison.

• Education: Ph.D. Statistics (UC Berkeley, 1994), M.A. Statistics (UC Berkeley, 1991), B.Math. Mathematics (University of Minnesota, 1989)
• Research Interests: Bayesian phylogenetics, genome arrangement analysis, statistical methods in evolutionary genetics, and data science pedagogy

He has led or co-led major grants totaling over $3 million from NSF and NIH, including projects on gorilla phylogeography and Enterobacteriaceae genome evolution. His work includes developing software tools like BUCKy for phylogenetic concordance analysis. Larget has advised numerous graduate students (e.g., Ruiyan Luo, Lancine Konate) and mentored undergraduates in research. He has taught courses in statistical methods, phylogenetics, and evolutionary genetics.

• Key Awards: Vilas Research Fellowship (2008–2010)
• Service: Served on university committees including the Biology Major Executive Committee and contributed to curriculum development in statistics and botany.