Distinguished Evolutionary Biologist Anne Yoder to Deliver Annual Biodiversity Day Lecture
By Danielle Bowden, Evolutionary Studies administrative specialist
Nashville, TN –– Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative is thrilled to announce that distinguished evolutionary biologist Anne Yoder will be delivering the annual Biodiversity Day Lecture. Yoder is widely recognized for her groundbreaking research on the genetics and speciation of Madagascar’s lemurs, which has transformed our understanding of the evolutionary process. The lecture, titled “Biodiversity in the making: Madagascar’s mouse lemurs reveal surprising mechanisms of cryptic speciation,” will take place at 4:00pm on 25 September 2024 in Buttrick Hall 102.
Yoder received her B.A. in zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 1981. She worked at both the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History in the department of vertebrate zoology and department of mammalogy. She then received her Ph.D. from Duke University in 1992.
Yoder is the Braxton Craven Distinguished Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Duke University. She is a leading evolutionary biologist on the cutting edge of genetics and speciation work and in 2023 was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences. Among her awards and achievements are the Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation Biodiversity Leadership Award and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. Dr. Yoder is also a strong advocate for women in science, serving on the board of Women in Science Tomorrow and a thesis advisor for Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering, and Science. In 2006, she became the director of the Duke Lemur Center, which houses 18 species of lemurs. She is also the executive committee president of the Society of Systematic Biologists.
Yoder’s fascination for Madagascar began when she was an undergraduate student. Her work integrates a wide variety of research topics including environmental studies, speciation, biological evolution, phylogenetics, and phylogeography. Yoder has also been involved with research that seeks to understand the effects of climate change on Madagascar’s environment, the indigenous lemur populations, and possible migration patterns that lemurs may implement due to the continuing increase in temperatures.
The Biodiversity Day Lecture Series aims to honor and recognize scientists that have dedicated their careers to studying the diversity of life on Earth and the mechanisms that generate or maintain it. The Vanderbilt Evolutionary Studies Initiative is a transdisciplinary center of excellence on evolutionary studies that innovates on research, pedagogy, and outreach by engaging scholars, students, our community, and the world. For more information about the Evolutionary Studies Initiative and the Biodiversity Day Lecture featuring Anne Yoder, please visit www.vanderbilt.edu/evolution or contact evolutionarystudies@vanderbilt.edu.