I am working on comparative genomics of mitochondrial DNA in Drosophila. I will be sequencing mitochondrial genomes from different Drosophila species, mainly from the D. virilis species group.  Complete Drosophila mitochondrial genomes have only been sequenced for a few species, such as D. melanogaster, D. similans, and D. yakuba.  I am interested in determining what factors affect the variation found in the mitochondria between species and subgroups, as well as looking for possible recombination going on in the mitochondria, and also gaining a better understanding of the phylogenetics of Drosophila.  Even though Drosophila is a model organism for genetics and molecular biological studies much remains to be learned about the evolutionary relationships among many of the subgroups and species.