Dr. Dyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He graduated from the Western Washington University with his B.S. in biology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri * Saint Louis in 2002. He studies the spatial distribution of intra-specific genetic variation in natural populations. Using ecological and evolutionary modeling techniques, DNA-based genetic markers, and field experiments, Dyer's research seeks to understand the basic question, "What factors influence the movement of genes across a landscape?" He is currently researching the application of graph-theoretic approaches to understanding population genetic processes; the effects of post-pleistocene range expansion on Sonoran desert flora and associated insect herbivores; connecting phenotype-genotype maps in globally distributed populations of invasive Setaria species; modeling and experimentally testing contemporary patterns of pollen movement in forest ecosystems.