# Scott V. Edwards Professor, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Curator, Museum of Comparative Zoology ![Scott Edwards with a tray of birds in the MCZ](/sites/g/files/omnuum6356/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/2025-05/Scott%20Edwards_MCZ_9433_.jpg?itok=OtjVpF4N) location\_on 26 Oxford Street MCZ 111 Cambridge, MA 02138 smartphone [617.384.8082 | fax: 617.495.5667]() email Administrative Contact: [Melinda Peterson](https://oeb.harvard.edu/people/melinda-peterson) ###### 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**](/file_url/758) [**PROFESSIONAL BIO**](http:/edwards.oeb.harvard.edu/scotts-professional-bio?admin_panel=1) [**DETAILED BIO**](/more-detailed-bio?admin_panel=1) I am a scientist with broad interests in the evolution of life on earth and the processes that have generated biodiversity. I mostly use birds as models to study patterns of speciation, biogeography, evolution of the genome, and the process of adaptation. This work has exposed my lab to a wide range of questions, from the evolution of immune genes and disease resistance to how best to reconstruct the tree of life. ![Scott enterying Wyoming on his 2020 x-country bicycle trip](/sites/g/files/omnuum6356/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/edwards/files/img_6213_1_01.jpg?itok=ZFksogCz) During Spring 2017, I was on sabbatical at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. A summary of my activities in Gothenburg are posted [here](http:/edwards.oeb.harvard.edu/files/edwards/files/gocas_biodiversity_overview_v3.pdf). In summer of 2020, I undertook at ~3800 mile, 76-day bicycle ride across the US, meeting lots of interesting people and landscapes. You can read about my journey on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/scottvedwards1?lang=en), [Roadtrippers Magazine](https://roadtrippers.com/magazine/black-lives-matter-bike-trip/), [Audubon](https:/www.audubon.org/news/journey-complete-scott-edwards-looks-back-his-cross-country-bicycling-trip), and [The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/03/lifestyle/harvard-ornithologist-pedals-cross-country-blackbirdersweek/). **Recent Publications (see** [***Publications***](/publications) **page for free downloads):** Edwards, S. V. 2009. Is a new and general theory of molecular systematics emerging? *Evolution* 63: 1-19. Liu, L., L. Yu , S. V. Edwards. 2010. A maximum pseudo-likelihood approach for estimating species trees under the coalescent model. *BMC Evolutionary Biology* 10:302. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-10-302. Vo, A.-T., M. S. Bank, J. P. Shine, and S. V. Edwards. 2011. Temporal increase in organic mercury in an endangered pelagic seabird assessed via century-old museum specimens. *Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA)* 108: 7466-7471. Bonneaud, C. S. L. Balenger, A. F. Russell, J. Zhang, G. E. Hill, and S. V. Edwards. 2011. Rapid evolution of disease resistance is accompanied by functional changes in gene expression in a wild bird *Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA)* 108: 7866-7871. Lowe, C., Clarke, J. Baker, A. J., Haussler, D., Edwards, S. V. 2014. Feather development genes and associated regulatory innovation predate the origin of Dinosauria. *Molecular Biology and Evolution* 32:23-28. Baldwin, M. W., Y. Toda, T. Nakagita, M. J. O'Connell, K. C. Klasing, T. Misaka, S. V. Edwards, and S. D. Liberles. 2014. Evolution of sweet taste perception in hummingbirds by transformation of the ancestral umami receptor. *Science* 345:929-933. Edwards, S. V., A. Cloutier, A. J. Baker, J. A. Clarke, C. B. Lowe. 2017. Conserved non-exonic elements: A novel class of marker for phylogenomics. *Systematic Biology* 66: 1028-1044. Campbell-Staton, S. C., Z. A. Cheviron, N. Rochette, J. Catchen, J. B. Losos, S. V. Edwards. 2017. Winter storms drive rapid phenotypic, regulatory, and genomic shifts in the green anole lizard. *Science* 357: 495–498. Sackton TB, Grayson P, Cloutier A, Hu Z, Liu JS, Wheeler NE, Gardner PP, Clarke JA, Baker AJ, Clamp M, et al. 2019. Convergent regulatory evolution and loss of flight in paleognathous birds. *Science* 364:74-78. Bakker FT, Antonelli A, Clarke JA, Cook JA, Edwards SV, Ericson PGP, Faurby S, Ferrand N, Gelang M, Gillespie RG, et al. 2020. The Global Museum: natural history collections and the future of evolutionary science and public education. *PeerJ* 8:e8225. Smith SD, Pennell MW, Dunn CW, Edwards SV. 2020. Phylogenetics is the New Genetics (for Most of Biodiversity). *Trends in Ecology & Evolution*. Jonasson, J., Harkonen, T., Sundqvist, L., Edwards, S. V., & Harding, K. C. 2022. A Unifying Framework for Estimating Generation Time in Age-Structured Populations: Implications for Phylogenetics and Conservation Biology. *American Naturalist*, 200(1), 48-62. doi:10.1086/719667. Edwards, S. V., Robin, V. V., Ferrand, N., & Moritz, C. 2022. The Evolution of Comparative Phylogeography: Putting the Geography (and More) into Comparative Population Genomics. *Genome Biol Evol*, 14(1). doi:10.1093/gbe/evab176. Schmitt, C. J., & Edwards, S. V. 2022. Passerine birds. Curr Biol, 32(20), R1149-R1154. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.061. ![Plum Island](/sites/g/files/omnuum6356/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/edwards/files/edwards_lab_2019b_s2_0.jpg?itok=H83ufZxp) ***Lab birding trip, Plum Island, MA 2019***## - ## People Categories [Professor and Curator](/people-categories/professor-and-curator)