Jesse Taylor

Jesse Taylor is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University (ASU), affiliated with the School of Life Sciences and the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. He is also part of the Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution and the Mechanisms of Evolution Researchers Team. His research focuses on evolutionary biology, population genetics, and the ecology of soil and myrmecophilous mites in desert ecosystems. Taylor integrates stochastic modeling, statistical analysis, and genetic data to study evolutionary processes in complex environments.

• Education: Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona (2003).
• Research Interests: Natural history of soil mites, theoretical population genetics (coalescent theory), and the evolution of antigen gene repertoires in parasites like malaria and African sleeping sickness.

His lab explores biodiversity and evolutionary dynamics of soil mites in the Sonoran Desert and Madrean sky islands, while also analyzing pseudogene formation in parasite antigens using mathematical models. Taylor has published extensively on topics ranging from phylogeography to epidemiological modeling, with a focus on infectious diseases and genetic diversity.

He serves as a referee for journals like PLoS Pathogens and Theoretical Population Biology, and contributes to the ASU undergraduate curriculum in evolutionary biology and mathematics.