I am interested in the evolution of mating strategies and of mating systems. One way that females may enhance their evolutionary fitness is by influencing fertilization. It is known that females can influence the outcome of sperm competition and there is evidence that they may also have the ability to influence the sexes of their offspring. I am currently investigating the possibility of sex ratio biasing of egg clutches in the sierra dome spider in response to male quality. Female sierra dome spiders often die before oviposition. Because sexually competitive male sierra dome spiders have shorter lifespans, it may benefit females to bias the sex ratio of their clutches toward males when they mate with sexually competitive males because daughters sired by these males may be more likely to die before they reproduce.