I am a computational evolutionary geneticist working in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston. My research includes projects in population genetics, molecular evolution, and bioinformatics. I am also concerned about the state of biology education in the US and donate my time to support pro-science-education causes.

Selected Research

• Cartwright RA (2009). Problems and solutions for estimating indel rates and length distributions. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 26:473—480. [reprint]
• Cartwright RA (2009). Antagonism between local dispersal and self-incompatibility systems in a continuous plant population. Molecular Ecology, 18:2327—2336. [reprint]
• Cartwright RA (2006). Logarithmic gap costs decrease alignment accuracy. BMC Bioinformatics, 7:527. [reprint]
• Cartwright RA (2005). DNA assembly with gaps (Dawg): simulating sequence evolution. Bioinformatics, 21(Suppl. 3):iii31—iii38. [reprint]
• For a complete publication list, see my CV.

Software

• Dawg: the best simulator of neutral evolution in DNA sequences. Version 2 is in development, and it will harder, better, faster, stronger, and easier to use.
• Ngila: pairwise sequences alignment with robust evolutionary models.
• SPAGeDi: spatial analysis of genetic data. Developed by Olivier Hardy and Xavier Vekemans, and I have made major contributions to make the source code portable and packagible.
• Red Lynx: A flexible population genetic simulator that runs in your browser. Great for teaching.
• Klineage: A forward simulator of ancestral lineages. Checkout from the subversion repository svn://scit.us/klineage/current.
• MT-Dispatch: A FastCGI dispatcher for Movable Type blogging software. Full of features that make my life much easier.
• Xomment: Ajaxify the comments on almost any MT blog
• KwickXML: Robust formatting plugin for MT blogs. Includes advanced support for LaTeX equations. Checkout from the subversion repository svn://scit.us/misc/kwickxml/current/.

My Websites

• De Rerum Natura: my personal blog
• Wildernesse: Tiffany’s blog
• Scitus Mailing lists
• Scitus Photo Gallery
• The Panda’s Thumb: a massive group blog about evolution.
• Prof. Steve Steve: the smartest panda in the world.
• The Talk.Origins Archive: the place on the web for information about evolution.
• Citizens for Science: a network of state and local groups who defend science and science education.
• Georgia Citizens for Integrity in Science Education: a group of Georgians dedicated in defending science and science education.