Kristina Wicke, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Event Date
2025-01-29
Event Time
04:00 pm ~ 05:00 pm
Event Location
617 Wachman Hall
Abstract: Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees allowing for the representation of speciation and reticulate evolutionary events such as hybridization or horizontal gene transfer. The inference of phylogenetic networks from biological sequence data is a challenging problem, with many theoretical and practical questions still unresolved. In this talk, I will give an overview of the state of the art in phylogenetic network inference. I will then discuss a novel divide-and-conquer approach for inferring level-1 networks under the network multispecies coalescent model. I will end by discussing some open problems and avenues for future research.
Parts of this talk are based on joint work with Elizabeth Allman, Hector Baños, and John Rhodes.