Scott V. Edwards
Curator of Ornithology and Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology,
Chair of the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Faculty Support: Melinda Peterson
We study the evolutionary biology of birds and relatives, combining field, museum and genomics approaches to understand the basis of avian diversity, evolution and behavior. Our guiding approaches include population genetics, which provides a quantitative framework for studying speciation, geographic variation and genome evolution; systematics, which acknowledges that the focal species of any study has relatives that are behaviorally and ecologically no less interesting; and natural history, which gives meaning to the genes and genomic patterns we study.
Recent Publications
Balenger SL, Bonneaud C, Sefick SA, Edwards SV, Hill GE. 2015. Plumage color and pathogen-induced gene expression in a wild bird. Behavioral Ecology. 26(4) :1100-1110.
Lowe CB, Clarke JA, Baker AJ, Haussler D, Edwards SV. 2015. Feather Development Genes and Associated Regulatory Innovation Predate the Origin of Dinosauria. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 32 (1) :23-28.
Backstroem N, Zhang Q, Edwards SV. 2013. Evidence from a House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) Spleen Transcriptome for Adaptive Evolution and Biased Gene Conversion in Passerine Birds. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 30(5) :1046-1050.
Courses Taught
OEB 125 Molecular Ecology and Evolution
OEB 190 Biology and Diversity of Birds
OEB 362 Research in Molecular Evolution
Contact Information
26 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138