People

Scott V. Edwards

sedwards@fas.harvard.edu

Professor, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

Curator, Museum of Comparative Zoology

B.A. Harvard University 1986 PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1992 Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Evolution, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1992-94 CV PROFESSIONAL BIO DETAILED BIO I am a scientist with broad interests in...

Gustavo Bravo

gustavo_bravo@fas.harvard.edu

Postdoctoral Fellow

Gustavo's general research goal is to understand the evolutionary mechanisms underlying the diversification, phenotypic evolution, historical biogeography, and distributional patterns of birds. Specifically, he is interested in understanding how the...

Christian Burns

otusasio451@gmail.com

Graduate Student

Christian earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University, where he began his work with birds through field work and specimen collection for local and migrant songbirds. After a high school teaching career, he obtained his...

Christian Burns

caburns@fas.harvard.edu

Graduate Student

Christian earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University, where he began his work with birds through field work and specimen collection for local and migrant songbirds. After a high school teaching career, he obtained his...

Johnathan Clark

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Education Johnathan Clark is an undergraduate student concentrating in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is currently pursuing his A.B. degree and conducting research that will constitute his senior honors thesis. Research...

Alexandria DiGiacomo

adigiacomo@g.harvard.edu

Graduate Student

Alexandria's research interests center on the macroevolution of Aves and the evolution of morphological traits during the transition from theropods to birds. Her prior work investigated this in a phylogenetic context by seeking to reconstruct the...

Max Laubstein

maxlaubstein@g.harvard.edu

Graduate Student

Max is interested in merging genomics, computing, and field study to understand the processes that form and maintain biodiversity in the wild. He is especially interested in uncovering the genomic basis of adaptive traits, and how landscapes shape...

Kelsie Lopez

kelsielopez@g.harvard.edu

Graduate Student

Kelsie is broadly interested in the genetics of adaptation, diversification, and conservation biology. She earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University in 2021, where she studied the underlying genetic architecture...

Talia Lowi-Merri

talialowimerri@gmail.com

Postdoc

Talia is an evolutionary biologist and NSERC postdoctoral fellow in the Edwards lab at Harvard University. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto, based in the Royal Ontario Museum, in 2023 investigating the dinosaur-bird transition through...

Nicole Mejia

dennyssed_mejia@college.harvard.edu

Nicole is broadly interested in how organisms are responding physiologically and genetically to anthropogenic changes. She earned her Bachelors of Arts degree in Integrative Biology from Harvard in 2022, where she studied the sublethal effects of plastic...

Melinda Peterson

mpeterson@fas.harvard.edu

Research Lab Coordinator

Melinda - the fairy godmother of the Edwards lab - began her tenure in Ornithology in early 2019. During her 20-year career in Higher Education administration, Melinda transitioned into Organismic and Evolutionary Biology in 2016 after a 10-year tenure in...

Jonathan Schmitt

Graduate Student

I am broadly interested in avian adaptation, coloration, diversification, and hybridization. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree (2012) at the University of New Mexico, where I was formally introduced to ornithology and museum-based science. As a...