# News & Events [Current Lab Meeting Schedule](/lab-meetings) [Past Lab Meeting Schedule](/past-lab-meetings) **August 2014** Past and present members of the Edwards lab make a showing at the 26th International Ornithological Congress in Tokyo. [See photo](/summer-2014-scientific-meetings). Graduate student [Maude Baldwin](/people/maude-baldwin) leads a [study](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6199/929) of the evolution of sweet taste perception in hummingbirds, published in *Science* (Aug. 22, 2014 issue). The study was funded by a [Dissertation Improvement Grant](http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1110487&HistoricalAwards=false) from [NSF](https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5234). The Edwards lab is pleased to welcome [Dr. Tim Sackton](/people/tim-sackton), a new postdoc in the lab. Tim will collaborate with graduate student [Phil Grayson](/people/phil-grayson), Director of Research Informatics Michele Clamp, and our other [collaborators](/key-collaborators-0), to use comparative genomics to study the evolution of flightlessness in palaeognath birds. **June 2014** Past and present members of the Edwards lab make a showing at the 2014 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution. See photo. **March 2014** The Edwards Lab is pleased to welcome [Dr. Simon Yung Wa Sin](/people/simon-yung-wa-sin), a recent PhD from the Wildlife Conservation Unit at the University of Oxford. In collaboration with Dr. Gabrielle Nevitt, Simon will study the genomics of chemical individuality and olfaction-based behavior in Leach's Storm Petrels. **September 2013** Our lab is pleased to be joined by graduate student [Phil Grayson](/people/phil-grayson), who just completed his Master's Degree at the University of Winnipeg on the evolution of reproductive genes in mice. **August 2013** Graduate student [Allison Shultz](/people/allison-shultz) receives a 'best student paper' award at the 2013 meetings of the American Ornithologists' Union in Chicago. Congrats, Allison! [Christie Riehl](/people/christina-riehl) wins a 2013 Young Professional Award given by the Cooper Ornithological Society. Congrats Christie! **July 2013** We are pleased to host visiting professor Michael A. Russello as the 2013 Sarah Hrdy Fellow in Conservation Biology in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. **June 2013** Junior Fellow [Cassie Stoddard](/people/mary-caswell-stoddard) is one of five recipients of the prestigious [L'Oreal USA Fellowships for Women in Science](http://www.lorealusa.com/?direct1=00008&direct2=00008/00001). Congratulations Cassie! Scott joins the National Science Foundation as a Division Director of the Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO). Scott will serve in this capacity until June 2015. Graduate student Allison Shultz is awarded a Rosemary Grant Research Award from the Society for the Study of Evolution We are pleased to host two student interns this summer, Elisa Dierickx (Harvard class of 2011) and Eren Ada. Elisa is learning the Rad-tag technique before heading to a PhD program in conservation biology at the University of Cambridge, (UK) and Eren, and undergraduate biology major from Ahi Evran University in Kirsehir, Turkey, is learning about phylogenetics and bioinformatics **April 2013** Graduate student [Allison Shultz ](/people/allison-shultz)is awarded a Frank M. Chapman research award from the American Museum of Natural History for her research on House Finches **December 2012** Junior Fellows [Christie Riehl](/people/christina-riehl) and [Cassie Stoddard ](/people/mary-caswell-stoddard)receive new funding through the William F. Milton Fund, administered by the Harvard Medical School [Christie Riehl](/people/christina-riehl) receives a [Putnam Expedition Grant](http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/grants_and_funding/putnam-expedition.html) from the Museum of Comparative Zoology to go to Panama to study how female anis use conspecific brood parasitism to increase their reproductive success. September 2012 Harvard PhD student Zhang Qu (Human Evolutionary Biology) and Scott test the hypothesis that flight and intron size in amniotes are interrelated in a new [paper](http://gbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/4/10/1033.full) in Genome Biology and Evolution. Read the paper and the associated [news story](http://gbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/4/10/1044.full?sid=f14f59ab-f6a7-44a7-a96c-2a57fbe7f961) published in GBE. The Edwards lab is joined by two Harvard Junior Fellows with interests in ornithology. [Cassie Stoddard](/people/mary-caswell-stoddard) will conduct interdisciplineary studies on the evolution of eggs and eggshells, combining chemistry, mathematical models, and genomics. Christie Riehl will continue integrative field and lab studies of cooperatively breeding anis, focusing on trade-offs between parasitism and cooperation. The Edwards lab is joined by sabbatical visitor and computational biologist [Mary O’Connell](http://www.dcu.ie/info/staff_member.php?id_no=2692). Mary hails from Dublin City University, Ireland, and will be supported by a Fullbright Fellowship. **August 2012** Former postdoc [Frank Rheindt](http://www.dbs.nus.edu.sg/staff/frank.html) accepts a tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore. Frank looks forward to continued research in avian phylogeography and phylogenetics. Congratulations, Frank! **July 2012** As President of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Scott gives his Presidential lecture at the [Society’s annual meeting](http://www.confersense.ca/Evolution2012/index.htm) in Ottawa, Canada. Several lab members, including Niclas Backström and [Allison Shultz](/people/allison-shultz), return from a successful 3-week collecting expedition to Mongolia. The expedition was a collaboration between Professor Sundev Gombobaatar of the National University of Mongolia, his staff and students, and the Department of Ornithology of the MCZ. Read about the expedition in the 2011-2012 MCZ Annual report. Old News [Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology](http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/) ~ [Department of Ornithology](http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/Departments/Ornithology/) [Museum of Comparative Zoology ](http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/)~ [Harvard University](http://www.harvard.edu/) 26 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138 USA ## Latest News [### The evolution of flightless birds ](/news/evolution-flightless-birds) May 08, 2019 The Harvard Gazette chronicles Edwards Lab research explores the genetics behind the development of flightless birds. ![Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer](/sites/g/files/omnuum6356/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/edwards/files/edwards_bird_kris_snibbe-harvard_staff_photographer.jpg?itok=aifuJApQ) [### Former Edwards lab member and OEB colleague Hopi Hoekstra is elected to the National Academy of Sciences ](/news/former-edwards-lab-member-and-oeb-colleague-hopi-hoekstra-elected-national-academy) May 04, 2016 Read all about it here: [http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/may-3-2016-NAS-Electi…](http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/may-3-2016-NAS-Election.html) ![hopi_hoekstra.jpeg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6356/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hopi_hoekstra_0.jpeg?itok=yxyVQxj9) [### Scott Receives 2015 Elliot Coues Award ](/news/scott-edwards-receives-2015-elliot-coues-award) August 31, 2015 Congratulations Scott on receiving the 2015 Elliot Coues Award from the American Ornithologists' Union! ![2015_aou_coues_edwards.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6356/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/edwards/files/2015_aou_coues_edwards.jpg?itok=ZlJygu20) [### Shane Campbell-Staton gives talk at the Harvard Horizons Symposium ](/news/shane-campbell-staton-gives-talk-harvard-horizons-symposium) May 06, 2015 Shane Campbell-Staton discusses natural selection during Harvard Horizons Symposium. Full story. ![shane_horizons.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6356/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/edwards/files/shane_horizons.jpg?itok=X0kvY3lV) [### Scott is inducted to the National Academy of Sciences ](/news/scott-inducted-national-academy-sciences) April 15, 2015 Scott has been inducted to the into the National Academy of Sciences. Full story. Congrats Scott! description [### Maude Baldwin leads published study in Science ](/news/maude-baldwin-leads-published-study-science) August 22, 2014 Graduate student Maude Baldwin leads a study of the evolution of sweet taste perception in hummingbirds, published in Science. The study was funded by a Dissertation Improvement Grant from NSF. description [ More arrow\_circle\_right ](/news)