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Daniel’s new MolEcol paper on chromosomal inversions in an Australian finch hybrid zone

A paper lead-authored by postdoc Daniel Hooper is out now in Molecular Ecology where you can read about how ‘Sex Chromosome Inversions Enforce Reproductive Isolation Across An Avian Hybrid Zone’. This paper, focused on the hybrid zone in northern Australia between subspecies of the long-tailed finch (Poephila acuticauda), is one…

Congratulations to Dave Toews on Excellence Award!

Postdoc Dave Toews recently received recognition from the Cornell Office of Postdoctoral Studies. Dave received the 2018 ‘Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring’, in recognition of his work in leading the “Current Topics in Non-Model Genomics” discussion group, and his role in undergraduate education.

Cornell Chronicle on our lyrebird NSF project

Were Australia’s lyrebirds the first ‘meme generators’? By Pat Leonard September 17, 2018 Australia’s Superb Lyrebird – the most astonishing animal mimic in the world – has been communicating with memes through song and dance for millions of years. “These days we usually think of memes as bits of culture…

Shawn on towhee hybrids at the International Ornithological Congress

At the IOC in Vancouver, Shawn presented a portion of his postdoctoral work from the lab, describing how genetic data were generated from museum specimens using the HyRAD protocol. These data were used to characterize a hybrid zone between Eastern and Spotted Towhees, which showed extensive genetic introgression and low…

Signals of Adaptive Introgression Between Saltmarsh and Nelson’s Sparrows

Postdoc Jen Walsh is the lead on a new study published in Evolution that leverages whole genome data from Saltmarsh and Nelson’s sparrows to investigate the genomic landscape of introgression between these species. By comparing populations in allopatry and sympatry, Jen’s paper shows that contemporary introgression is shaping the genomic…

Natalie on starlings at International Ornithological Congress

At the IOC this week PhD candidate Natalie Hoffmeister presented some of her work on the population genomics of European (Common) starlings. Her poster covered 1) genome-wide differentiation within North American starlings, and 2) evidence for local adaptation within starling invasions in Australia and the U.S. This work is part…

Really Big News about our Littlest Lab Group Member!

Enormous congratulations to postdoc Jen Walsh and her husband Marc on the birth of their first child, Griffin Leo Emond!!!! We are greatly looking forward to having this very cute little guy join our lab group events when the time comes, and wish Jen and Marc all the best as they experience the innumerable joys of parenthood!

Even sex ratios in Saltmarsh Sparrows despite reasons to predict otherwise

Postdoc Jen Walsh co-authored a new paper in the Auk with collaborators from the University of New Hampshire looking at adaptive sex ratio manipulation in Saltmarsh Sparrows. The authors determined the sex of 990 offspring from 370 nests and characterized variation in site- and population-level sex ratios. They found no…

New Director of the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates

Irby Lovette just began a three-year term as the incoming Director of the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates, the home of the research collections that are co-located with the Lab in the Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity. The CUMV is small in terms of staff — just three additional professionals…

Stepfanie wins major teaching award!

Congratulations to graduate student Stepfanie Aguillon for being awarded the 2018 Cornelia Ye Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. This Cornell-wide award recognizes “demonstrated excellence and dedication in instructional responsibilities to students at Cornell University, thereby enhancing undergraduate and graduate education at Cornell.” Stepfanie has been deeply engaged in teaching evolutionary biology…

Ornithologists Tweeting…

Grad student Stepfanie Aguillon participated in the first ever general ornithology twitter conference (#BOU17TC), organized by the British Ornithologists’ Union. She had the challenge of translating her recent paper on spatial genetic patterns in Florida Scrub-Jays into 6 (very short) tweets. Twitter conferences are fairly new, but a great avenue…

Lab of Ornithology postdoc group continues to grow

Lots of familiar faces in this photo of 15 (of 24 total at the moment!) Lab of Ornithology postdocs who recently gathered to help welcome newcomer Ryan Germain:

Introducing Dr. Nicholas Mason!

Warmest of congratulations to Nick for successfully defending his PhD thesis yesterday! Nick by the numbers (at least some of them): 5.2 years as a PhD student (1 year below the average time-to-completion); 1/1 on postdoc applications with his independent NSF award to work at UC Berkeley starting in January;…

Daniel’s research featured in Nature Ecology & Evolution

Just-arrived postdoc Daniel Hooper has a paper from his dissertation newly out in Nature Ecology and Evolution entitled Chromosomal inversion differences correlate with range overlap in passerine birds. Abstract is copied below, but his ‘behind the paper’ article in the same issue is also very much worth a read. Abstract:…

Welcome to Dr. Daniel Hooper!

A very warm welcome to the newest member of our lab group, Dr. Daniel Hooper, who arrived today as a Rose Postdoctoral Fellow. Daniel (at far right in the photo) did his PhD work at the University of Chicago under the advising of Trevor Price; among other topics, Daniel has…

Stepfanie’s paper makes the cover of PLOS Genetics!

Grad student Stepfanie Aguillon’s paper is featured on the cover of the current issue of PLOS Genetics. Here is what that journal has to say about her contribution: Florida Scrub-Jays reveal new details about isolation-by-distance. The pattern of isolation-by-distance is observed often in nature, but we rarely have means to…

Jake’s talk at the Ornithological Congress in Iguazú

PhD student Jake Berv is in Puetro Iguazú, Argentina, at the Ornithological Congress of the Americas this week, presenting his work on the population genomics of the white crowned manakin. Jake’s work on this taxon takes advantage of new techniques being optimized in the Fuller lab to understand diversification in…

Nick wins AOS Council Presentation Award

Warmest of congratulations to grad student Nick Mason for ending his final AOS conference as a student on a high note by winning an AOS Council Presentation Award for his very well-received talk on “Song Evolution, Vocal Learning, and Speciation in Passerine Birds.” Way to go, Nick!

Congratulations to Nick, Emma, Karan et al. on AOS Elective Membership

A host of people affiliated with our group were voted in as Elected Members of the American Ornithology Society this year. Warmest of congratulations (!!!) to our current Lab of Ornithology colleagues Nick Mason, Emma Greig, Leo Campagna, and Karan Odom, and similarly to Chris Balakrishnan, Karl Berg, Sarah Kaiser,…

Dave on warbler migration at AOS

Postdoc David Toews gave one of the very last talks at the American Ornithological Society conference today, in which he explored how the costs of migration might limit the western breeding ranges of warblers that next in the boreal zone of Canada and Alaska.

Category: People