Subdivision
| • | 203. Evolution & Ecology, Systematics, Population Genetics, Paleontology, and Physical Anthropology | [X] |
| | 1 | Name: | Dr. Andrew H. Knoll | | | Institution: | Harvard University | | | Year Elected: | 1997 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 203. Evolution & Ecology, Systematics, Population Genetics, Paleontology, and Physical Anthropology | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1951 | | | | | | |
Andrew Knoll is Fisher Professor of Natural History and Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University and Curator of the Paleobotanical Collections in the Harvard University Herbaria. A world leader in paleobiology, he has served on the Harvard faculty since 1982. Distinguished by his pioneering investigations of global conditions in the early evolution of life, Dr. Knoll has used biological, geological and chemical information to interpret the evolution of unicellular and multicellular organisms, from the most primitive life forms to the origin of metazoa and higher plants. He has used the same approach to explain mass extinctions in the Permian. Dr. Knoll's many honors include the Walcott Medal (1987) and the Mary Clark Thompson Medal (2012) of the National Academy of Sciences, the Phil Beta Kappa Book Award in Science (2003), the Moore Medal of the Society for Sedimentary Geology (2005), the Paleontological Society Medal (2005), the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London (2007), and membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1977. | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. Scott Edwards | | | Institution: | Harvard University | | | Year Elected: | 2020 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 203. Evolution & Ecology, Systematics, Population Genetics, Paleontology, and Physical Anthropology | | | Residency: | resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1963 | | | | | | |
Scott Edwards is currently Alexander Agassiz Professor, Curator of Birds at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992, after which he spent a decade at the University of Washington.
Scott Edwards pioneered the application of genomics and population genetic approaches to natural populations of birds. He creatively integrates theory with field, museum, and laboratory research. Edwards has led his field of ornithology into the age of genomics by examining genomic evolution in a setting that applies population genetics, systematics, and natural history to diverse questions. His work has broad generality beyond the target taxa, and he has contributed importantly to both theory and methods. His lab applies cutting edge population genetics to studies on diverse problems in genomics and evolutionary biology. With Beerli he modernized phylogeography. With Liu and Pearl he developed methods that promise to revolutionize phylogenetic analyses of large molecular datasets. He has made extensive contributions to understanding behavioral evolution, speciation, and biogeography of Australian birds. Edwards is a versatile and prolific scientist who has proven to be an effective communicator and a wonderful role model.
In 2015 he won the Elliot Coues Award of the American Ornithologists Union. He is a member of the Society of Systematic Biology (president, 2009), the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2009), the American Genetic Association (president, 2011), and the National Academy of Sciences (2015). Scott Edwards was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2020. | |
| 3 | Name: | Dr. Hopi E. Hoekstra | | | Institution: | Harvard University; Howard Hughes Medical Institute | | | Year Elected: | 2018 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 203. Evolution & Ecology, Systematics, Population Genetics, Paleontology, and Physical Anthropology | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1972 | | | | | | |
Hopi E. Hoekstra is the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Departments of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology and the Molecular & Cellular Biology at Harvard University. She is the Curator of Mammals in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, an Institute Member at the Broad Institute and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her research focuses on understanding the evolution and genetics of morphological and behavioral traits that affect fitness of individuals in the wild. Using deer mice as a model system, she first dissected the molecular, genetic and developmental basis of camouflaging coloration to understand the mechanisms driving adaptation. Later, she focused on unraveling the genetic and neurobiological underpinnings of complex natural behaviors.
She received her B.A. from UC Berkeley and her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She has received Young Investigator awards from the American Society of Naturalists and the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, and most recently, the Lounsbery Medal from the National Academy of Sciences (2015). She gave the 2013 Commencement speech at UC Berkeley’s Integrative Biology Department and has been profiled in The New York Times. In 2016, she was elected into the National Academy of Sciences and in 2017, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She also teaches in Harvard’s introductory Life Science course Genetics, Genomics and Evolution to approximately 500 freshmen each year, and has been awarded the Fannie Cox Prize and a Harvard College Professorship for teaching excellence. | |
| 4 | Name: | Dr. Ernst Mayr | | | Institution: | Harvard University | | | Year Elected: | 1965 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 203. Evolution & Ecology, Systematics, Population Genetics, Paleontology, and Physical Anthropology | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1904 | | | Death Date: | February 3, 2005 | | | | |
| 5 | Name: | Dr. Edward O. Wilson | | | Institution: | Harvard University; E.O. Wilson Foundation | | | Year Elected: | 1976 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 203. Evolution & Ecology, Systematics, Population Genetics, Paleontology, and Physical Anthropology | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1929 | | | Death Date: | December 26, 2021 | | | | | | |
Edward O. Wilson is Pellegrino University Research Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. A preeminent biological theorist, he earned B.S. and M.A. degrees in biology from the University of Alabama and his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University. He joined Harvard's faculty in 1956 and distinguished himself as a researcher, professor of zoology and curator in entomology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Dr. Wilson conducted pioneering work on chemical communication from the 1950s through the 1970s. His accomplishments include the first comprehensive account of pheromones in ants, and (with Bossert) the first evolutionary analysis of the physical and chemical properties of pheromones; the creation (with MacArthur) of the theory of island biogeography, a basic part of modern ecology and conservation biology; the creation of the discipline of sociobiology, in 1975; and the first modern syntheses of knowledge of social insects, in 1971, and (with Hölldobler) of ants in particular, in 1990. Dr. Wilson's current work continues to focus on entomological and environmental research. Two of E.O. Wilson's 25 books have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize - On Human Nature (1978) and The Ants (1990), co-authored with Hölldobler. His acclaimed The Diversity of Life (1992), which brought together knowledge of the magnitude of biodiversity and the threats to it, had a major public impact. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998) draws together the sciences, humanities, and the arts into a broad study of human knowledge, while The Future of Life (2002) offers a plan for saving Earth's biological heritage. Among Dr. Wilson's recent volumes is a monograph including 337 species new to science, Pheidole in the New World: A Hyperdiverse Ant Genus (2003), another book with Hölldobler, Superorganism (2008), and The Social Conquest of Earth (2012). In 2010 he wrote his first novel, Anthill, which was followed in 2013 by Letters to a Young Scientist. He was founder and also serves as honorary chairman of the Encyclopedia of Life, an online resource (www.eol.org) that aims to provide detailed information on every species known to science. The project's first 30,000 pages went online in February 2008, with the remaining 1.77 million pages predicted to be available within the next decade. Dr. Wilson is the recipient of over one hundred awards recognizing his international contributions to science and humanity. These include the National Medal of Science (1976), the Japan International Prize for Biology (1993), the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1990), the Franklin Medal of the American Philosophical Society (1999), the Brookly Botanic Garden Visionary Award (2012) and the Cosmos Prize of the Japan’s Expo ’90 Foundation (2012). The citation of the APS award reads "in recognition of the great contributions this scientist has made through his research on ants to a better understanding of their societal relationships. Using exacting methods he has produced a new understanding of the processes which produce man's creative achievements by subjecting them to the rigorous analyses used in studying the physical and chemical characteristics of ants and other species." E.O. Wilson was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society in 1976. | |
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