Evolutionary biology aims to understand the enormous and beautiful diversity of life. At our institute, we study the processes that create this diversity in a wide variety of organisms ranging from microbes to plants and animals, and on different temporal and spatial scales. We are particularly interested in the role of natural and sexual selection in driving adaptation and speciation, the evolutionary origins of organization at both the individual and population level, and in the factors that shape levels of genetic variation, the raw material of evolution. We study these questions using both field and laboratory studies, molecular genetic techniques, and mathematical models. Our research topics range from basic questions to those with direct relevance to conservation.