Peter Cowman

Dr Peter Cowman is an ARC DECRA Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He is a previous recipient of the prestigious Donnelley Postdoctoral Environmental Fellowship (2014-2016) administered by the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS). Dr Cowman is a leading authority on the phylogenetic systematics and evolutionary origins of coral reef-associated fishes.

His research focuses on reconstructing the evolutionary history of diverse groups of fishes and corals that are associated with tropical reefs habitats and uses those phylogenetic hypotheses to explore macroevolutionary questions on topics ranging from the origins of trophic novelty, processes driving biodiversity patterns, and the ancestral biogeography of reef-associated lineages. In a parallel research theme, he explores the causative relationships between genomic change, processes of diversification and life history traits across the tree of life.