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Dr. Jeremy J. Kirchman

Curator of Birds and Mammals
jeremy.kirchman@nysed.gov
518-474-1441

I am broadly interested in the evolution and biogeography of birds, but most of my research focuses on populations found on islands. Islands have long been considered “natural laboratories of evolution”, and studying birds on islands teaches us much about speciation, extinction, and adaptation.  I have a special interest in one group of birds, the rails (Rallidae), which are great island colonists, found even on the most remote oceanic islands.  Many rail species have evolved to become totally flightless on islands that lack mammalian predators. Closer to home, I am studying several species of birds that breed in “islands” of coniferous (boreal) forest isolated above 3000 feet of elevation in New York’s mountain ranges. I want to know if these populations of Bicknell’s Thrush, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Spruce Grouse and other boreal forest specialists are genetically isolated and evolving independently of one another. These high-elevation populations may be imperiled as the climate continues to warm.

Publications

2023

J. Kirchman, A. Kimmitt, T. Pegan, A. Jones, K. Wacker, C. Brennan, Jocelyn Hudon, K. Ruegg, B. Benz, R. Herman, B. Winger 2023, Genetic evidence for widespread population size expansion in North American boreal birds prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 290, 20221334. 10.1098/rspb.2022.1334
Michael Nachman, Elizabeth Beckman, Rauri Bowie, Carla Cicero, Chris Conroy, Robert Dudley, Tyrone Hayes, Michelle Koo, Eileen Lacey, Christopher Martin, Jimmy McGuire, James Patton, Carol Spencer, Rebecca Tarvin, Marvalee Wake, Ian Wang, Anang Achmadi, Sergio Alvarez-Casta\~neda, Michael Andersen, Jairo Arroyave, Christopher Austin, Keith Barker, Lisa Barrow, George Barrowclough, John Bates, Aaron Bauer, Kayce Bell, Rayna Bell, Allison Bronson, Rafe Brown, Frank Burbrink, Kevin Burns, Carlos Cadena, David Cannatella, Todd Castoe, Prosanta Chakrabarty, Jocelyn Colella, Joseph Cook, Joel Cracraft, Drew Davis, Alison Rabosky, Guillermo ia, John Dumbacher, Jonathan Dunnum, Scott Edwards, Jacob Esselstyn, Juli\ Faivovich, Jon a, Oscar Flores-Villela, Kassandra Ford 2023, Specimen collection is essential for modern science, PLOS Biology 21, e3002318. 10.1371/journal.pbio.300231810.1371/journal.pbio.3002318.s001

2022

J. Kirchman, Flavia Termignoni-Garcia, Johnathan Clark, Scott Edwards, Russell Corbett-Detig 2022, Comparative Population Genomics of Cryptic Speciation and Adaptive Divergence in Bicknell’s and Gray-Cheeked Thrushes (Aves:Catharus bicknelli and Catharus minimus), Genome Biology and Evolution 14, . 10.1093/gbe/evab255

2021

J. Kirchman, N. Rotzel-McInerney, Thomas Giarla, Storrs Olson, Elizabeth Slikas, Robert Fleischer 2021, Phylogeny based on ultra-conserved elements clarifies the evolution of rails and allies (Ralloidea) and is the basis for a revised classification, Ornithology 138, 1-21. 10.1093/ornithology/ukab042
J. Kirchman, J. Ralston, A. FitzGerald, T. Burg, N. Starkloff, I. Warkentin 2021, Comparative phylogeographic analysis suggests a shared history among eastern North American boreal forest birds, Ornithology , . 10.1093/ornithology/ukab018
J. Kirchman, A. FitzGerald, N. Starkloff, W. Turner, M. Oftedal, E. Martinsen 2021, Disentangling the effects of host relatedness and elevation on haemosporidian parasite turnover in a clade of songbirds, Ecosphere 12, e03497. 10.1002/ecs2.3497

2020

J. Kirchman 2020, Bicknell’s Thrush Discovered in the Catskills. Catskill Tri-County Historical Views 3, 6-14
J. Kirchman, Angelena Ross, Glenn Johnson 2020, Historical decline of genetic diversity in a range-periphery population of Spruce Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) inhabiting the Adirondack Mountains, Conservation Genetics 21, 373–380. 10.1007/s10592-019-01246-5
J. Kirchman, Michael Murphy, Sharon Gill, Kevin Fraser, Elizabeth MacDougall-Shackleton, Sara Oyler-McCance, Henry Streby 2020, 2020 Brina C. Kessel Award to Corey Tarwater, Ryan Germain, and Peter Arcese, The Auk , . 10.1093/auk/ukaa043
J. Kirchman, Naima Starkloff, Andrew Jones, Benjamin Winger, Yen-Hua Huang, Paulo in-R, Wendy Turner 2020, Drivers of community turnover differ between avian hemoparasite genera along a North American latitudinal gradient, Ecology and Evolution , . 10.1002/ece3.6283