Elizabeth Hadly
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor, Biology (School of Humanities and Sciences)
Professional Snapshot
Professional Education
| Ph.D.: | Univ. California, Berkeley, Integrative Biology (1995) |
| M.S.: | Northern Arizona University, Quaternary Studies (1990) |
| B.A.: | Univ. Colorado, Boulder, Anthropology (1981) |
Web Site Links
Scientific Focus
Research Interests
ELIZABETH A. HADLY
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, BY COURTESEY
The research of Elizabeth Hadly probes how perturbations such as climatic change influence the evolution and ecology of Neogene vertebrates. She uses a combined field and laboratory approach to examine how ecological perturbations link or decouple levels of biological organization, because understanding the links among ecosystems, species, populations and genes is central to understanding how organisms exist, evolve and become extinct. She addresses problems in organismal biology from both evolutionary and ecological perspectives, primarily using extant mammals. One of the unique aspects of her overall approach is the focus on the decadal to millennial time scale, a scale that is little studied, although it is a scale that is integral to understanding links between ecology and evolution.
Professor Hadly’s field research involves excavation of finely stratified Holocene paleontological sites and collection of modern specimens in western North America and Patagonia. Construction of a state-of-the-art ancient DNA laboratory has made possible the study of genetic structure of populations through time. Laboratory work includes morphometric and molecular analyses with the intent to extend the level of investigation down to the population and genetic levels. Ongoing projects at the macroecological scale include the study of the ecological and evolutionary factors influencing biological diversity through a comparison of temperate terrestrial vertebrate faunas in North and South America.
Publications
- Source-sink dynamics structure a common montane mammal. Mol Ecol. 2009
- Biogeography, Changing Climates, and Niche Evolution Sackler Colloquium: Niche conservatism above the species level. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009
- Climatic change and wetland desiccation cause amphibian decline in Yellowstone National Park. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008; (44): 16988-93
- Determining landscape use of Holocene mammals using strontium isotopes. Oecologia. 2007; (4): 943-50
- Bayesian estimation of the timing and severity of a population bottleneck from ancient DNA. PLoS Genet. 2006; (4): e59
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