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Dr. Denise Mayer

Malacology Collections Manager, Director of Museum’s Field Research Laboratory (Cambridge)
denise.mayer@nysed.gov
518-677-8245

My research focuses on the exotic and native freshwater molluscs in New York.  Mollusc communities are important for the healthy functioning of freshwater ecosystems and can make up a majority of the biomass within an ecosystem.  My efforts focus on informing people about the fascinating animals that live on the bottoms of our lakes and rivers as well as conducting scientific studies to add to our knowledge of freshwater mussels and snails in New York.  Specifically, I enjoy monitoring the recovery of populations following ecological disturbance and areas that have never or have not recently been investigated.  

Publications

2010

R. Kays, J. Kirchman, A. Curtis 2010, Reply to Wheeldon et al. ’Colonization History and Ancestry of Northeastern Coyotes’, Biology Letters 6, 248-249. 10.1098/rsbl.2009.1022
J. Kirchman, C. Witt, J. McGuire, G. Graves 2010, DNA from a 100-year-old Holotype Confirms the Validity of a Potentially Extinct Hummingbird Species, Biology Letters 6, 112-115. 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0545
J. Kirchman 2010, Legalities and Practicalities of Salvaging of Dead Birds for Museum Specimens, The Kingbird 60, 298-300.
J. Kirchman 2010, Carolina Parakeets. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 6, 16

2009

J. Kirchman 2009, Genetic Tests of Rapid Parallel Speciation of Flightless Birds from an Extant Volant Ancestor, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 96, 601-616. 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01160.x
J. Cryan, R. Feranec, J. Kirchman 2009, Evolution Every Day. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 4, 10-11
J. Kirchman 2009, Extinct Birds. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 4, 8-9
J. Kirchman 2009, Natural History Collections and Evolution. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 4, 14

2008

J. Kirchman 2008, Bird Egg Specimens: An Ova-looked Treasure. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 3, 8-9
J. Kirchman 2008, The New York State Museum Bird Collection: A Resource for Educators and Ornithologists, The Kingbird 58, 214-219.