Evolution Faculty

Through field, laboratory, and model-based studies along with the outstanding collections, facilities and other resources of Harvard’s natural history institutions—the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Harvard University Herbaria, the Arnold Arboretum, and the Harvard Forest—we investigate the origins and maintenance of biological diversity.

Andrew A. Biewener

Andrew A. Biewener 

  • Charles P. Lyman Professor of Biology

abiewener@oeb.harvard.edu
Biewener Lab
Concord Field Station

Evolution Faculty Biomechanics Faculty Physiology Faculty

Comparative biomechanics of mammalian and avian locomotion; neuromuscular control of movement during walking and running, as well as during flight

Colleen Cavanaugh

Colleen Cavanaugh

  • Edward C. Jeffrey Professor of Biology
  • Associate of Leverett House

cavanaug@fas.harvard.edu
Cavanaugh Lab

Evolution Faculty Ecology Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyBiology of Marine Systems Faculty

Symbioses of bacteria in marine invertebrates from deep-sea hydrothermal vents, methane seeps, and coastal reducing sediments

Charles C. Davis

Charles C. Davis

  • Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Curator of Vascular Plants in the Harvard University Herbaria
  • Director of the Harvard University Herbaria

cdavis@oeb.harvard.edu
Davis Lab
Harvard University Herbaria

Evolution Faculty Ecology Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics Faculty

Plant diversity and evolution involving the integration of systematics, paleobiology, evolution, ecology, and molecular biology

Benjamin L. de Bivort

Benjamin L. de Bivort

  • Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

debivort@oeb.harvard.edu
de Bivort Lab

Evolution Faculty Behavior Faculty Mathematical and Computational Biology FacultyNeuroethology and Behavioral Ecology Faculty Physiology Faculty

Discovering why individuals behave uniquely by linking automated quantification of behavior to variation at the molecular, cellular and neural circuit levels

Michael M. Desai

Michael M. Desai

  • Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Co-Director of Graduate Studies

mdesai@oeb.harvard.edu
Desai Lab

Evolution Faculty Mathematical and Computational Biology Faculty

How genetic variation is created and maintained; natural selection in asexual populations such as microbes and viruses

Scott Edwards

Scott V. Edwards

  • Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Curator of Ornithology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Co-Director of Graduate Studies

sedwards@fas.harvard.edu
Edwards Lab

Evolution Faculty Behavior Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyMathematical and Computational Biology FacultyNeuroethology and Behavioral Ecology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Evolutionary biology of birds and relatives, combining field, museum and genomics approaches to understand the basis of avian diversity, evolution and behavior

Cassandra Extavour

Cassandra G. Extavour

  • Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology

extavour@oeb.harvard.edu
Extavour Lab

Evolution Faculty Evolutionary Developmental Biology Faculty

Evolution and development of reproductive systems, specifically the mechanisms of initial specification of primordial germ cells

Brian D. Farrell

Brian D. Farrell

  • Professor of Biology
  • Curator of Entomology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

farrellb@oeb.harvard.edu
Farrell Lab

Evolution Faculty Ecology Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyNeuroethology and Behavioral Ecology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Rates, directions and consequences of evolutionary diversification, as well as the marks of evolutionary history on community structure; interactions between various tiny consumers and their hosts, such as beetles and plants or mosquitoes, pathogens and vertebrates

William (Ned) Friedman

William (Ned) Friedman

  • Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Director of the Arnold Arboretum

ned@oeb.harvard.edu
Friedman Lab
The Arnold Arboretum

Evolution Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics Faculty

Organismic interfaces between developmental, phylogenetic and evolutionary biology

Gonzalo Giribet

Gonzalo Giribet

  • Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Curator-in-Charge of Invertebrate Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

ggiribet@g.harvard.edu
Giribet Lab

Evolution Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyEvolutionary Developmental Biology FacultyMathematical and Computational Biology Faculty

Evolution and biogeography of invertebrate animals, mainly arthropods and mollusks

David A. Haig

David A. Haig

  • George Putnam Professor of Biology

dhaig@oeb.harvard.edu
Haig Lab

Evolution Faculty Behavior Faculty Mathematical and Computational Biology FacultyNeuroethology and Behavioral Ecology Faculty

Maternal-fetal conflict in human pregnancy to the evolution of plant life cycles. Particular interest in genetic conflicts within individual organisms, as exemplified by genomic imprinting

James Hanken

James Hanken

  • Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Professor of Biology and Curator of Herpetology
  • Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology

hanken@oeb.harvard.edu
Hanken Lab

Evolution Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyEvolutionary Developmental Biology Faculty

Evolution of morphology, developmental biology, and systematics

Daniel L. Hartl

Daniel L. Hartl

  • Higgins Professor of Biology
  • Professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases

dhartl@oeb.harvard.edu
Hartl Lab

Evolution Faculty Mathematical and Computational Biology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Interface between evolution, molecular biology and genomics

Hopi Hoekstra

Hopi E. Hoekstra

  • Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Harvard College Professor
  • Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Curator of Mammalogy in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator

hopi_hoekstra@harvard.edu
Hoekstra Lab

Evolution Faculty Behavior Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyEvolutionary Developmental Biology FacultyNeuroethology and Behavioral Ecology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Identifying and characterizing the molecular changes responsible for traits that affect fitness of organisms in the wild; using wild mice to study the genetic basis of morphological and behavior adaptation

 

Robin Hopkins

Robin Hopkins

  • Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

rhopkins@fas.harvard.edu
Hopkins Lab

Evolution Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyNeuroethology and Behavioral Ecology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Speciation in plants, predominantly focused on reinforcement, the process in which reduced hybrid fitness generates selection for the evolution of reproductive isolation between emerging species

Andrew H. Knoll

Andrew H. Knoll

  • Fisher Professor of Natural History and Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences
  • Curator of the Paleobotanical Collections in the Harvard University Herbaria

aknoll@oeb.harvard.edu
Knoll Group

Evolution Faculty Ecology Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics Faculty Paleobiology Faculty

Evolution of life, evolution of Earth surface environments, and the relationships between the two, Archean and Proterozoic paleontology and biogeochemistry

Elena Kramer

Elena Kramer

  • Chair of the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Bussey Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Harvard College Professor

ekramer@oeb.harvard.edu
Kramer Lab

Evolution Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyEvolutionary Developmental Biology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Molecular, morphological, and phylogenetic approaches are used to study how flowers have changed over the course of evolutionary time. A major focus is the development of Aquilegia (columbine) as a new system for studying evolutionary and ecological questions

George V. Lauder

George V. Lauder

  • Henry Bryant Bigelow Professor of Ichthyology
  • Curator of Ichthyology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Professor of Biology

glauder@oeb.harvard.edu
Lauder Lab

Evolution Faculty Biomechanics Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyBiology of Marine Systems Faculty Physiology Faculty

Biorobotics and evolution of fishes

James Mallet

James Mallet

  • Distinguished Lecturer on Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

jmallet@oeb.harvard.edu
Mallet Lab

Evolution Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Evolution, genomics, hybridization, and speciation - mainly in butterflies

Martin A. Nowak

Martin A. Nowak

  • Professor of Mathematics and Biology
  • Director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics

Nowak Lab

Evolution Faculty Behavior Faculty Mathematical and Computational Biology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Initiated the field of virus dynamics which led to quantitative understanding of HIV infection; evolution of cooperation

Javier Ortega-Hernandez

Javier Ortega-Hernández

  • Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Curator of Invertebrate Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

jortegahernandez@fas.harvard.edu
Ortega-Hernandez Group

Evolution Faculty Evolutionary Developmental Biology FacultyBiodiversity and Systematics Faculty Paleobiology Faculty

Evolution, phylogeny and developmental paleobiology of Paleozoic invertebrates, particularly (eu)arthropods and their close relatives. Interested on the origin of major animal groups during the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, as informed by exceptionally preserved fossils.

 

Donald H. Pfister

Donald H. Pfister

  • Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany
  • Curator of the Farlow Library and Herbarium

dpfister@oeb.harvard.edu
Pfister Lab

Evolution Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics Faculty

Biology, life histories and phylogeny of Ascomycota, particularly members of the Pezizomycetes, Leotiomycetes and Laboulbeniomycetes.  Interest in phylogenetic relationships within the groups, their host relationships and geographical distribution

Naomi E. Pierce

Naomi E. Pierce

  • Sidney A. and John H. Hessel Professor of Biology
  • Curator of Lepidoptera in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Senior Fellow of the Society of Fellows

npierce@oeb.harvard.edu
Naomi Pierce Lab

Evolution Faculty Behavior Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyNeuroethology and Behavioral Ecology Faculty

Behavioral ecology and evolution, focusing on species interactions such as insect/host plant associations and symbioses between insects and other organisms; life history evolution and systematics of Lepidoptera

Stephanie E. Pierce

Stephanie E. Pierce

  • Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

spierce@oeb.harvard.edu
Stephanie Pierce Lab

Evolution Faculty Behavior Faculty Biomechanics Faculty Paleobiology Faculty

Assessing the link between form and function of the vertebrate skeletal system – especially with respect to muscle/skeletal interactions during feeding and locomotor behaviours in modern and extinct animals

Pardis Sabeti

Pardis Sabeti

  • Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

pardis@broadinstitute.org
Sabeti Lab

Evolution Faculty Mathematical and Computational Biology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Genomic signals and mechanisms of evolutionary adaptation in humans and microbial pathogens 

Mansi Srivastava

Mansi Srivastava

  • Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  • Curator of Invertebrate Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

mans@oeb.harvard.edu
Srivastava Lab

Evolution Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyEvolutionary Developmental Biology FacultyMathematical and Computational Biology Faculty

Wound response and stem cell biology during regeneration in an evolutionary framework

John Wakeley

John Wakeley

  • Professor Of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

wakeley@fas.harvard.edu
Wakeley Lab

Evolution Faculty Mathematical and Computational Biology FacultyPopulation and Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

Mathematical and statistical population genetics, especially coalescent theory