DEPARTMENT OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY
SHARMA LAB
SHARMA LAB
Welcome to the Sharma Lab! Our research broadly addresses macroevolution of invertebrates through the lenses of phylogenetics, genomics, and comparative development, with emphasis on chelicerate arthropods.
This body of work integrates three avenues of inquiry:
(1) How is biodiversity distributed through time and space?
(2) What are the genetic mechanisms that underlie body plan evolution?
(3) How does the integration of phylogenetic data classes resolve challenging parts of the tree of life?
This body of work integrates three avenues of inquiry:
(1) How is biodiversity distributed through time and space?
(2) What are the genetic mechanisms that underlie body plan evolution?
(3) How does the integration of phylogenetic data classes resolve challenging parts of the tree of life?
Lab News & Events 2022 (updated 23 December):
19 December: Prashant is honored and humbled to receive the Class of 1955 Teaching Excellence Award from the UW-Madison Distinguished Teaching Awards Committee!
16 December: Congratulations to Hugh Steiner on being awarded a travel grant to attend the 2023 International Congress of Arachnology!
1 December: Want to know how chelicerates make their pedipalp? Check it out here! This work was possible though a collaboration with Heather Bruce and Nipam Patel at Woods Hole MBL!
25 October: The lab is deeply gratified to release the first phylogenetic assessment of the armored harvestman family Assamiidae, a work that began ten years ago! The analysis of this taxonomically problematic group of harvestman was led by Luciano Palmieri Rocha, who collected Laniatores with Prashant in the Philippines in 2014. Congratulations, Luciano! Check out the work here!
24 October: The lab is delighted to participate in a multinational collaboration that just completed the first global phylogeny of Solifugae! This work was made possible through the joint efforts of Efrat Gavish-Regev, Paula Cushing, Andrés Ojanguren-Affilastro, Matt Graham, Carlos Santibáñez López, Jesús Ballesteros, and many of their students. Congratulations to Siddharth Kulkarni, who led the work. Check out the preprint here!
22 July: Prashant Sharma is honored to be elected for Chair-Elect of the Division of Evolutionary Developmental Biology of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology!
27 June: Welcome to Kaitlyn Abshire, who joins the lab as a graduate student this fall! Both Kaitlyn and Ben Klementz will start their Ph.D. studies in the lab this September.
10 June: Prashant Sharma presents a departmental seminar at the University of Bristol's Evolutionary Biology seminar series.
10 June: Emily Setton presents her thesis research as an invited symposium speaker at the 2022 Arthropod Genomics Symposium. Congratulations on a great talk, Emily!
April 27: The Sharma Lab is delighted to participate in the first higher-level molecular phylogeny of Amblypygi! This phylogenomic tree of whip spiders was made possible through the highly fortuitous discovery of the relict Paracharon 123 years after it was last seen by scientists. Many congratulations to Gustavo Silva de Miranda and the lab's Siddharth Kulkarni, who co-led the work. Check out the preprint here!
April 21: Many congratulations to Hugh Steiner on receiving the prestigious Hilldale Undergraduate Fellowship! This competitive award supports Hugh's participation in our fieldwork campaigns in Israel this upcoming summer.
April 8: Prashant Sharma is honored to receive tenure and promotion to Associate Professor.
March 28: The Sharma lab is delighted to publish a comprehensive analysis of scorpion relationships and venom evolutionary dynamics today in Systematic Biology. Congratulations to former postdoc Carlos Santibáñez López, who led this multinational effort! Check it out here!
March 4: The lab's Phalangium crew is delighted to publish a modern staging system for the first harvestman model system! Congratulations to Guilherme Gainett, Ben Klementz, Caitlin Baker, Emily Setton, and lab alums Audrey Crawford and Calvin So!
February 8: The Sharma Lab is overjoyed to publish a >500-species phylogeny of Chelicerata, in conjunction with the Gavish-Regev, Giribet, Harvey, Hormiga, and Wheeler labs! This investigation draws upon morphology and genomic data, and overturns the century-old scenario of a monophyletic Arachnida and a single colonization of land in chelicerates. Check it out here!
February 1: The Sharma Lab is delighted to welcome Dr. Siddharth Kulkarni, a postdoctoral fellow and spider genomics expert! Dr. Kulkarni joins us just after completing his Ph.D. at the George Washington University in DC.
January 11: Congratulations to Emily Setton on her feature in the campus newsletter! The article covers Emily's research on the origin of spider spinnerets. Check it out here!
January 4: Congratulations to lab alumnus Dr. Andrew Ontano and undergrad Hugh Steiner on the publication of their work on chelicerate phylogeny! Their paper explores whether Palpigradi constitute a long-branch arachnid order. Check it out here!
January 3: The lab is delighted to attend SICB 2022 in Phoenix! This year it's a full house... undergraduates Hugh and Ben are presenting posters at their first scientific congress, and Emily and Prashant are giving talks. Back in Madison, Guilherme, Pola, and Caitlin are all presenting virtually on SICB+. Hope to see you there!
19 December: Prashant is honored and humbled to receive the Class of 1955 Teaching Excellence Award from the UW-Madison Distinguished Teaching Awards Committee!
16 December: Congratulations to Hugh Steiner on being awarded a travel grant to attend the 2023 International Congress of Arachnology!
1 December: Want to know how chelicerates make their pedipalp? Check it out here! This work was possible though a collaboration with Heather Bruce and Nipam Patel at Woods Hole MBL!
25 October: The lab is deeply gratified to release the first phylogenetic assessment of the armored harvestman family Assamiidae, a work that began ten years ago! The analysis of this taxonomically problematic group of harvestman was led by Luciano Palmieri Rocha, who collected Laniatores with Prashant in the Philippines in 2014. Congratulations, Luciano! Check out the work here!
24 October: The lab is delighted to participate in a multinational collaboration that just completed the first global phylogeny of Solifugae! This work was made possible through the joint efforts of Efrat Gavish-Regev, Paula Cushing, Andrés Ojanguren-Affilastro, Matt Graham, Carlos Santibáñez López, Jesús Ballesteros, and many of their students. Congratulations to Siddharth Kulkarni, who led the work. Check out the preprint here!
22 July: Prashant Sharma is honored to be elected for Chair-Elect of the Division of Evolutionary Developmental Biology of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology!
27 June: Welcome to Kaitlyn Abshire, who joins the lab as a graduate student this fall! Both Kaitlyn and Ben Klementz will start their Ph.D. studies in the lab this September.
10 June: Prashant Sharma presents a departmental seminar at the University of Bristol's Evolutionary Biology seminar series.
10 June: Emily Setton presents her thesis research as an invited symposium speaker at the 2022 Arthropod Genomics Symposium. Congratulations on a great talk, Emily!
April 27: The Sharma Lab is delighted to participate in the first higher-level molecular phylogeny of Amblypygi! This phylogenomic tree of whip spiders was made possible through the highly fortuitous discovery of the relict Paracharon 123 years after it was last seen by scientists. Many congratulations to Gustavo Silva de Miranda and the lab's Siddharth Kulkarni, who co-led the work. Check out the preprint here!
April 21: Many congratulations to Hugh Steiner on receiving the prestigious Hilldale Undergraduate Fellowship! This competitive award supports Hugh's participation in our fieldwork campaigns in Israel this upcoming summer.
April 8: Prashant Sharma is honored to receive tenure and promotion to Associate Professor.
March 28: The Sharma lab is delighted to publish a comprehensive analysis of scorpion relationships and venom evolutionary dynamics today in Systematic Biology. Congratulations to former postdoc Carlos Santibáñez López, who led this multinational effort! Check it out here!
March 4: The lab's Phalangium crew is delighted to publish a modern staging system for the first harvestman model system! Congratulations to Guilherme Gainett, Ben Klementz, Caitlin Baker, Emily Setton, and lab alums Audrey Crawford and Calvin So!
February 8: The Sharma Lab is overjoyed to publish a >500-species phylogeny of Chelicerata, in conjunction with the Gavish-Regev, Giribet, Harvey, Hormiga, and Wheeler labs! This investigation draws upon morphology and genomic data, and overturns the century-old scenario of a monophyletic Arachnida and a single colonization of land in chelicerates. Check it out here!
February 1: The Sharma Lab is delighted to welcome Dr. Siddharth Kulkarni, a postdoctoral fellow and spider genomics expert! Dr. Kulkarni joins us just after completing his Ph.D. at the George Washington University in DC.
January 11: Congratulations to Emily Setton on her feature in the campus newsletter! The article covers Emily's research on the origin of spider spinnerets. Check it out here!
January 4: Congratulations to lab alumnus Dr. Andrew Ontano and undergrad Hugh Steiner on the publication of their work on chelicerate phylogeny! Their paper explores whether Palpigradi constitute a long-branch arachnid order. Check it out here!
January 3: The lab is delighted to attend SICB 2022 in Phoenix! This year it's a full house... undergraduates Hugh and Ben are presenting posters at their first scientific congress, and Emily and Prashant are giving talks. Back in Madison, Guilherme, Pola, and Caitlin are all presenting virtually on SICB+. Hope to see you there!