About the Author Dr. Phred Benham is a post-doctoral researcher at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley with Dr. Rauri C. K. Bowie. Phred is broadly interested in the evolutionary mechanisms shaping avian adaptation to different environments. You can follow his research on his website and on mastodon. Eukaryotic organisms like plants, […]
Category: Birds
EECG Embarkation: Experiences in early life influence development of future phenotypes
**The AGA grants EECG Research Awards each year to graduate students and post-doctoral researchers who are at a critical point in their research, where additional funds would allow them to conclude their research project and prepare it for publication. EECG awardees also get the opportunity to hone their science communication and write posts over their […]
EECG Embarkation: Functional characterization of olfactory receptors in the context of their radiation in birds
**The AGA grants EECG Research Awards each year to graduate students and post-doctoral researchers who are at a critical point in their research, where additional funds would allow them to conclude their research project and prepare it for publication. EECG awardees also get the opportunity to hone their science communication and write posts over their […]
Behind the Science: The Proof is in the Pedigree
About the Blog Author: Dr. Oliver Ryder (@frozenzoo) is the Kleberg Endowed Director of Conservation Genetics at Beckman Center for Conservation Research, part of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. He has been a leader in the recovery of the condors through captive breeding since the 1980s, and created the genetic database for all […]
Symposium Snippets: a little insight into my favorite bits of the AGA2021
About the Blog Author: Emily Cavill is a PhD fellow in the Gilbert Research Group at the GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her PhD focuses on hologenomics in the context of applied conservation for the Seychelles Magpie Robins, while her research interests include many topics surrounding conservation of endangered species, mostly genomics but also encompassing […]
Living Rainbows: Exploring the Genetics of Coloration in Birds
About the Blog Author: Brinkley Thornton is a current accelerated bachelor’s to master’s student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and will become a full time masters student in the Summer of 2022. She currently works in the Krueger-Hadfield Evolutionary Ecology Lab. Her research interests include population genetics and plant ecology and evolutionary biology. […]
Behind the Science: Recombination and the origin of species
About the Blog Author: Sheela Turbek is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Kristen Ruegg’s lab at Colorado State University. Her graduate research at the University of Colorado Boulder focused on how behavioral and phenotypic traits mediate patterns of genetic exchange between closely related taxa. Lately, however, she is interested in using genomic tools to […]
Bridge over troubled water: getting across the conservation genetics gap
About the author: Dr Helen Taylor is a conservation geneticist who studied for her PhD in New Zealand, working on inbreeding in little spotted kiwi. She went on to undertake postdoctoral research on inbreeding and male fertility in passerines and, at that point, became interested in the integration of genetics into conservation management. After […]
Mind the gap: why is genetics often missing from conservation?
In this series, written specially for the AGA blog, Dr Taylor will be exploring the gap between conservation genetics research and conservation implementation, showcasing some examples of how the gap is being closed for various species and projects, and exploring what it means to be a conservation geneticist in the modern sense (aka, why at […]
Studying the genetics of migration using hybrids from a migratory divide
Every spring, nature enthusiasts are excited for another bird migration made evident by the countless posts on social media noting rare warblers spotted in backyards and high species counts on birding trips. And the excitement is warranted, as migration is an amazing feat, both ubiquitous and complex, requiring coordination of numerous adaptations for the birds […]