Amy C. Driskell
Ph.D. Student
Committee on Evolutionary Biology
University of Chicago
Photo: Mike Alfaro
Photo: Amy C. Driskell
Honeyeater |
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Education:
- B.S. Biology, 1989, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
M.S. Zoology, 1992, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, IL
Awards:
- 1998-1999: AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship
1999-2000: Field Museum Graduate Fellowship
Research Interests:
- Systematics, biogeography, morphological evolution
Current Research:
- Since 1995, I have been working in the Pritzker Lab on a molecular phylogenetic study of a family of Australo-Papuan birds, the Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae). The honeyeaters are a large and very diverse group of songbirds. Every habitat in Australia and New Guinea, from arid desert to rain forest, is home to at least one species of honeyeater (up to nine species coexist in the rainforests of northern Australia!). My study will be the first phylogenetic hypothesis for this important family of birds, and with it I will examine the evolution of morphology, ecology and breeding biology within honeyeaters.
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