Abstract: Series 115, Lecture 2
The Harvey Lectures Series 115 (2019—2020)
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Lecture #2: Thursday, November 21, 2019 — Watch Video of Lecture
From mice to molecules: adaptation to novel habitats
Hopi E Hoekstra, PhD
Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology
Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology
Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hopi E. Hoekstra is the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Departments of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology and the Molecular & Cellular Biology at Harvard University. She is the Curator of Mammals in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her research focuses on understanding the evolution of morphological and behavioral diversity in mammals – from identifying genes contributing to coloration to those that affect complex behaviors. Her research has taken her around the globe, including studies of grizzly bears in Yellowstone, rodents in Chile and Argentina, and a diversity of animals in the Kuril Islands.
Hopi received her B.A. from UC Berkeley and her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She has received many awards for her scientific contributions, most recently the Lounsbery Medal from the National Academy of Sciences. In 2016, she was elected into the National Academy of Sciences; in 2017, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences; and in 2018, the American Philosophical Society. She also teaches in Harvard’s introductory Life Science course Genetics, Genomics and Evolution to approximately 450 freshmen each year, and has been awarded the Fannie Cox Prize and a Harvard College Professorship for teaching excellence.