Professor Serb's research program focuses on the origin and evolution of complex traits. The origin of these traits within a lineage is a central component of the evolutionary process, as evolutionary novelties have been considered a driving force in the success of organismal lineages and key to their diversification and speciation. Yet despite their importance, the genesis and evolution of traits is poorly understood. Her research program seeks to identify and understand the genetic and environmental factors involved in phenotypic change of novel complex traits in invertebrate systems. To this end, they use a variety of tools including DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, molecular phylogenetic analyses, morphometrics, and developmental biology techniques. Collectively, their work attempts to integrate the fields of evolutionary biology and developmental biology to broadly train students in the exciting young field of evolutionary developmental biology, or evo-devo.