My team uses arachnids (spiders, scorpions and allies) for projects investigating aspects of evolutionary biology, biogeography and population genetics. We apply morphological and molecular methods to record and document biodiversity: past, present and future. We are professional taxonomists and use museum collections in combination with field work to identify and describe new species. Our current research projects focus on the biodiversity of arachnids in the cloud forests of Ecuador, the deserts of Australia, and the rainforests of Indonesia. We are also leading projects on fossil arachnids, speciation in subterranean systems, and the phylogeny of selected arachnid groups. We are collaborating with ecologists, such as the Animal Ecology group in Göttingen, to amalgamate projects of animal ecology with conservation biology, genetics and evolutionary history.