CV

Here you can find my CV. The pdf is availabe, you can take a look at it by clicking the 'pdf' button (opens in a new tab).

General Information

Full Name Basanta Khakurel
Position PhD Student
Email b.khakurel@lmu.de
Phone +49-015234618794
Location Munich, Germany
Website basantakhakurel.github.io
Languages Nepali (Native), English (Fluent), Hindi (Fluent), German (Beginner)

Education

  • 2023 - 2026 (Expected)
    PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences
    Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
    • Supervisor: Dr. Sebastian Höhna
    • Thesis: Toward More Realistic Models of Morphological Evolution in Bayesian Phylogenetics
  • 2021 - 2023
    Master of Science in Biology
    Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, US
    • Supervisor: Dr. April Wright
    • GPA: 4.0
    • Thesis: Inference of Phylogeny Using Discrete Morphological Characters
  • 2017 - 2021
    Bachelor of Science in Biology
    Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, US
    • Minors: Chemistry and Political Science
    • Advisor: Dr. April Wright
    • Thesis: Species delimitation of the Eastern Pinesnake complex (Pituophis melanoleucus)

Research Experience

  • 2023 - Present
    Graduate Research Assitant
    Höhna Lab, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, LMU München
    • Bayesian phylogenetic methods for morphological datasets
  • 2021 - 2023
    Graduate Research Assistant
    Wright Lab, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University
    • Explored morphological models for phylogenetic inference (discrete and continuous) using RevBayes and R
    • Posterior predictive simulations in phylogenetics
  • 2019 - 2021
    Undergraduate Research Assistant
    Wright Lab, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University
    • Performed species delimitation analyses on the Eastern Pinesnake

Teaching & Mentoring

  • 2026
    Invited Lecturer
    LMU München, Munich, Germany
    • Phylogenetic Analysis of Molecules and Morphology (Modeling Morphological Evolution)
  • 2023
    Invited Lecturer
    Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, US
    • Biological Data Analysis (Simulations in Biology)
  • 2019
    Summer Camp Teacher
    Upward Bound Math and Science Program, Hammond, LA, US
    • Taught mathematics and biology to high school students

Publications

  • 2026
    Incorporating continuous characters in joint estimation of dicynodont phylogeny
    Wynd B.M., Khakurel B., Kammerer C.F., Wagner P.J., Wright A.M. · Systematic Biology
    • [doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaf078](https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaf078)
  • 2026
    A covarion model for phylogenetic estimation using discrete morphological datasets
    Khakurel B., Darlim G., Capobianco A., Höhna S. · Systematic Biology
    • [doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syag014](https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syag014)
  • 2026
    Practical Guide and Review of Fossil Tip-Dating in Phylogenetics
    Heckeberg N., Capobianco A., Khakurel B., Darlim G., Höhna S. · Systematic Biology
    • [doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaf050](https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaf050)
  • 2024
    Meeting Report for the Phenoscape TraitFest 2023 with Comments on Organising Interdisciplinary Meetings
    Girón Duque JC, Balk M, Dahdul W, Lapp H, Mikó I, Alhajjar E, Wynd B, Tarasov S, Lawrence C, Khakurel B, Porto A, Yan L, Fluck IE, Porto D, Keating J, Borokini I, Seltmann K, Montanaro G, Mabee P · Biodiversity Information Science and Standards
    • [doi.org/10.3897/biss.8.115232](https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.8.115232)
  • 2024
    The fundamental role of character coding in Bayesian morphological phylogenetics
    Khakurel B., Grigsby C., Tran T.D., Zariwala J., Wright A.M. · Systematic Biology
    • [doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syae033](https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syae033)
  • 2023
    Species delimitation of the eastern Pinesnake complex (Pituophis melanoleucus)
    Khakurel B., Nikolakis Z.L., Crother B.I., Wright A.M. · Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists
    • [doi.org/10.18061/bssb.v2i1.9423](https://doi.org/10.18061/bssb.v2i1.9423)
  • 2022
    Genomic data support the taxonomic validity of Middle American livebearers Poeciliopsis gracilis and Poeciliopsis pleurospilus (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae)
    Ward S.J., McMahan C.D., Khakurel B., Wright A.M., Piller K.R. · PLoS ONE
    • [doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262687](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262687)

Invited Talks

  • 2026
    A Covarion model for Discrete Morphological Datasets — Beyond the Mk model: Addressing Heterotachy
    Bristol Paleobiology Group, University of Bristol
  • 2024
    Snakes, Fish, and Bayesian morphological phylogenetics
    PhD and PostDoc Seminar, Paleontological Museum Munich
  • 2023
    Use of Continuous Traits in Phylogenetic Estimation
    Departmental Seminar, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University

Conference Presentations

  • 2026
    The impact of rate variation assumptions on phylogenetic accuracy
    EvoGen Munich, Munich, Germany
  • 2026
    The Hidden Cost of Discretization: Is the default k=4 biasing your tree lengths?
    Society of Systematic Biologists Meeting, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
  • 2025
    Characters changing speed: the Covariomorph model and its impact on phylogenetic trees (Poster)
    ESEB 2025 Congress, Barcelona, Spain
  • 2025
    Characters changing speed: the Covariomorph model and its impact on phylogenetic trees
    Evolution Meetings, Athens, GA, USA
  • 2024
    An Efficient Heterotachy Model for Morphological Phylogenetics
    3rd Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology, Montréal, Canada
  • 2024
    Evidence of covarion rate variation in empirical morphological datasets (Poster)
    Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting, Erlangen, Germany
  • 2023
    Potential and Perils in Using Morphological Characters for Phylogenetic Inference (Poster)
    Heckeberg N., Capobianco A., Darlim G., Khakurel B., Höhna S. · Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting, Cambridge, UK
  • 2023
    Model Adequacy in Morphological Data
    Society of Systematic Biologists Meeting, Mexico City, Mexico
  • 2023
    Use of Continuous Traits in Phylogenetic Estimation
    Evolution Meetings, Albuquerque, NM, USA
  • 2023
    Incorporating Continuous Characters in Total-Evidence Phylogenetic Estimation of Extinct Lineages
    Wynd B.M., Khakurel B., Wright A.M. · GSA Connects Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
  • 2022
    Species Delimitation in Eastern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus)
    Evolution Meetings, Cleveland, OH, USA
  • 2022
    Adequacy of Fossilised Birth-Death Models: A Test Case in Ants
    Schwery O., Khakurel B., Wright A.M. · Evolution Meetings, Cleveland, OH, USA
  • 2021
    Species Delimitation in Eastern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus)
    LBRN 8th Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Meeting, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
  • 2020
    Character State Space Partitioning in Phylogenetic Analyses from Discrete Data (Poster)
    Khakurel B., Grigsby C., Tran T., Wright A.M. · LBRN 18th Annual Meeting, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
  • 2020
    Modeling Morphological State Space (Poster)
    Khakurel B., Grigsby C., Wright A.M. · Society of Systematic Biologists Meeting, Gainesville, FL, USA
  • 2019
    The Role of Honors Student Organizations in Building and Sustaining a Robust Honors Presence on Campus
    Khakurel B., Rocquin V., Litolff J. · Southern Regional Honors Council Conference, Memphis, TN, USA

Awards, Fellowships & Grants

  • 2023
    SSB Travel Award
    Society of Systematic Biologists
  • 2022
    Distinguished Graduate Fellowship
    Southeastern Louisiana University
  • 2022
    Graduate Research Fellowship (USD 8,000)
    Louisiana Biomedical Research Network
  • 2021
    David Ware Outstanding International Student Award
    Southeastern Louisiana University
  • 2021
    Outstanding Senior Award
    Southeastern Louisiana University
  • 2021
    Dr. Marvin L. Yates Award of Excellence
    Southeastern Louisiana University
  • 2019
    Sophomore Honors Distinction
    Southeastern Louisiana University

Workshops & Training

  • 2026
    • A Primer for Phylogenetic Causal Inference Workshop
    • Generalized Bayesian Phylogenetics to Infer Simultaneous and Multifurcating Divergences
  • 2025
    • Phylogenetic Methods for Historical Biogeography
    • Visualizing Science Workshop Series
  • 2024
    • Navigating Scientific Publishing - Early Career Focus (3rd Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology)
  • 2023
    • RevBayes Workshop and Hackathon (Munich, DE)
    • Phenoscape Traitfest (Durham, NC)
  • 2021
    • PhylogatR workshop (Pembroke, VA)
  • 2020
    • Posterior Predictive Simulation with P2C2M workshop (SSB Meeting, Gainesville, FL)

Service & Outreach

  • 2024 - Present
    Project Contributor
    Himalayan Pariwar e.V., Munich, Germany
    • Empowering accessible education in Nepal
  • 2018 - 2022
    President
    Nepalese Student Association at Southeastern, Hammond, LA, USA
  • 2021
    Planning Committee
    Louisiana Sci-Comm Summit, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
  • 2020 - 2021
    Vice President
    Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Hammond, LA, USA
  • 2019 - 2021
    Ambassador
    Honors Program at Southeastern, Hammond, LA, USA
  • 2019 - 2020
    Leadership Ambassador
    Division of Student Affairs at Southeastern, Hammond, LA, USA
  • 2019
    Senator
    Student Government Association at Southeastern, Hammond, LA, USA
  • 2018
    Volunteer Judge
    Southeastern Lab School Science Fair, Hammond, LA, USA

Professional Memberships

  • Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE)
  • Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB)

Academic Interests

  • Bayesian Phylogenetics
  • Morphological Models of Evolution
  • Heterotachy and Among-Character Rate Variation
  • Fossil Tip-Dating and Total-Evidence Dating
  • Posterior Predictive Model Adequacy
  • Species Delimitation