Chairman, Department of Zoology
Associate Curator, Birds, Department of Zoology
Field Museum of Natural History

B.S., University of Arizona, 1983.
M.S., University of Arizona, 1987.
Ph.D., Louisiana State University, 1993.

Member, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago.

Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago.

External Lecturer, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Project Leader, Programme Biodiversite des Ecosystemes Aquatiques et Terrestres dans le Rift Albertin (PBEATRA), Lwiro, Dem. Rep. of Congo.

Past Head, current member of TFM Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Evolution and Systematics.

Recent fieldwork in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo yielded some surprising finds like this turkey purchased by a Congolese colleague.

With former student Charles Kahindo and the Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles (CRSN), Lwiro bird crew at Tshibati, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2005.

Systematics, genetic structure, and geographic variation in the tropics.

My research focuses on genetic structure of tropical birds, primarily at the level of populations and species. At a continental scale, I use data from DNA sequences to uncover patterns of history among lineages of South American, African, and Malagasy birds. Multi-taxon studies, in which samples of different taxa are obtained at each geographic site provide insightful comparative data sets. Coupled with an understanding of distribution and ecology, we can search for correlations between molecular differentiation and other aspects of the biology of these birds such as morphological differentiation, ecology (e.g., habitat selection, foraging guild membership, breeding system, degree of seasonal movement) and phylogenetic relationships (phylogenetic constraints). In addition, to addressing evolutionary questions, these distinct patterns of genetic structure can have relevance to conservation biology.

My students have studied similar questions in birds and other organisms throughout the tropics (e.g., flycatchers and antbirds in the neotropical lowlands, Jose Tello; Albertine Rift warblers, Charles Kahindo; Ana Carnaval, frogs of northeastern Brazil; Philippine Fruit bats, Trina Roberts; Tanzanian frogs, Lucinda Lawson; Philippine insectivorous bats, Sara Weyandt.)

At the local geographic scale, I have studied genetic structure in populations of five forest understory species from continuous forest and from forest fragments in northeastern Bolivia. The sites in continuous forest and the forest fragments are all within 200 km of one another, yet genetic differentiation appears to have developed in the forest fragments for three of the species studied. This work also has implications for the design of nature reserves and for conservation planning, because my data indicate that genetic structure in these forest species can be affected by forest fragmentation.

I also study geographic variation using traditional museum specimens and computerized databases. One such study of geographic variation in some South American finches (genus Tiaris) uncovered misconceptions about traditional species limits and diagnosable populations. Another led to the description of a new species of hanging parrot (Loriculus camiguinensis), which is endemic to the small island of Camiguin in the Philippines. This description was based on a series of specimens collected in the 1960’s and deposited in the Field Museum’s collections. Such studies demonstrate the vital importance of museum collections and, along with results of molecular studies, emphasize that additional inventory work on birds is sorely needed. Collaborative fieldwork by the division over the last 10 years has included Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Uganda, Central African Republic, Gabon, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Madagascar and Bhutan. We are interested in building capacity for collections-based ornithological science in all of these countries.