Ornithology Laboratory :: Research :: Current Projects

In the NYSM’s ancient DNA laboratory, I am sampling ancient DNA from Passenger Pigeon bones from archaeological sites of different ages, as well as from 19th Century museum specimens, to document the pattern of decline in genetic diversity as this species approached its infamous extinction.  I’m also sampling DNA from Carolina Parakeets from museum skins to determine how this northernmost of New World parakeets is related living members of its family.  Previously I obtained DNA from Ivory-billed Woodpecker specimens for a study published in 2006 in Biology Letters.

Some species of birds that breed in the Boreal forests of northern North America have populations isolated above 2000 feet of elevation in New York’s mountain ranges. I want to know if these populations are genetically isolated and evolving independently.  As part of this project, SUNY Ph.D. student Joel Ralston is focusing on the population genetics of Blackpoll Warblers.

I am engaged in a number of projects that investigate patterns of genetic divergence among island populations and closely related species found on islands in the Pacific. One project focuses on the radiation of flightless rails found on Pacific Islands.  I am using ancient and modern DNA data to infer relationships among living and extinct species, and to infer the rate of evolution of flightlessness from molecular clock analyses.  A second project focuses on the genetics of birds on the oceanic islands of the Republic of Vanuatu.  For this project I am comparing the genetic structure of multiple island populations of Vanuatu birds. I want to know how species of birds that independently colonized Vanuatu differ with respect to their genetic structure and potential for speciation.