In his research, David has explored several fields of evolutionary biology using phylogenetic trees. A key area of interest is identifying when phylogenetic inferences provide accurate and precise reconstructions of the evolutionary process. David has also investigated how phylogenetic analyses can be used in novel ways to answer a broad range of questions in evolutionary biology, including those relating to taxonomy, biogeography, epidemiology, and molecular evolution.

David joined E&E in early 2019 after being awarded a DECRA Fellowship, after completing a postdoc at the University of Sydney and his PhD at the Australian National University. His doctoral research was conducted under the supervision of A/Prof. Marcel Cardillo, Prof. Lindell Bromham, and Prof. Simon Ho (University of Sydney). David previously did a Bachelor degree with Honours in marine biology at James Cook University in Australia.