Advisory Board and Editors Evolutionary Studies
Mathew J Wedel
I am a vertebrate paleontologist, and my main areas of interest are sauropod dinosaurs and the evolution of pneumatic (air-filled) bones in dinosaurs and birds. I'm also interested in the evolution of heads and necks in vertebrates, and in the nervous systems of very large animals. I've been fortunate to coauthor three papers naming new dinosaurs: the sauropods Sauroposeidon (2000) and Brontomerus (2011), and the early horned dinosaur Aquilops (2014). I am currently an Associate Professor at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, where I teach gross anatomy. In 2016 my book "The Sauropod Dinosaurs: Life in the Age of Giants", with artist and lead author Mark Hallett, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
In my spare time I enjoy stargazing, and I write the monthly Binocular Highlights column and the occasional feature article for Sky & Telescope magazine.
Andrew Whitehead
Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, and Center for Population Biology, University of California at Davis. Research in Environmental, Ecological, and Evolutionary Genomics.
Siouxsie Wiles
Dr Siouxsie Wiles MNZM studied medical microbiology at the University of Edinburgh, followed by a PhD in microbiology at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Oxford and Edinburgh Napier University. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Auckland. There she heads up the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab where she and her team make nasty bacteria glow in the dark to find new antibiotics and to better understand how bacteria become more infectious. Siouxsie has won numerous awards for both her science and her science communication. In 2017 she published her first book, ‘Antibiotic resistance: the end of modern medicine?’ and in 2019 was appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to microbiology and science communication. When the pandemic arrived, Siouxsie joined forces with Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris to make the science of COVID-19 clear and understandable. Their award-winning graphics have been translated into multiple languages and adapted by various governments and organisations around the world. Siouxsie was the Supreme Winner of the Stuff Westpac 2020 Women of Influence Award, named by the BBC as one of their 100 influential women of 2020, and in 2021 was named Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.
Claus O Wilke
Professor and Department Chair, Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin. Received his PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Bochum, Germany, in 1999. Postdoc at Caltech, 2000-2005.
Michael Wink
Prof. Dr. Michael Wink is Professor of Biology and Director at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology of Heidelberg University; Head of Biology Department (1989-2019). Senior professor since 2019. Editor of Diversity, Biotechnology Journal and Journal of Ornithology. Member of several editorial boards and scientific societies. Author of over 20 books and over 900 original peer-reviewed publications.
Dominik Wodarz
Dominik Wodarz is Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California, Irvine. The subject area of his research is theoretical / mathematical biology, with emphasis on infectious disease, the immune system, cancer, and evolutionary dynamics. His studied Biology at Imperial College, London, and obtained his PhD from the University of Oxford.
Yuri I. Wolf
Lead Scientist, Koonin Group at the Computational Biology Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Maryland).
L. LaReesa Wolfenbarger
Dr. Wolfenbarger conducts research on the ecology and conservation of grassland species and communities in the agricultural landscape of the Great Plains. She also devotes research time to synthesizing information for policymakers and resource managers so that scientific results are readily available for decision makers.
Huiting Wu
Dr. Huiting Wu is a lecturer in the School of Geosciences and Surveying Engineering at China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) in Beijing, China.
Dr. Wu's research focus is on taxonomy, palaeoecology and morphology of brachiopod, mass extinction and biotic recovery. She is also interested in ecology and morphological changes of brachiopod in modern ocean, bivalves and ammonoids.
Dr. Wu is a graduate of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). Between 2016-2017, she was a visiting scholar in Deakin University. Between 2018-2010, she was a post-doctors fellow in the Peking University.
Mark T Young
’m a Scottish evolutionary biologist and vertebrate palaeontologist. My research focus is on major evolutionary transitions: understanding both how and why the vertebrate body-plan radically transforms when adapting to new niches. My interdisciplinary approach including biomechanics, comparative anatomy, neuroanatomy, nomenclature, philosophy of biology, phylogenetics, and systematics/taxonomy.
My areas of research are:
(1) The land-to-sea transition of fossil marine crocodylomorphs. This focuses on the biology of Thalattosuchia (marine crocs that evolved flippers and a tail fin during the Age of Dinosaurs). My research includes understanding their endocranial anatomy, sensory systems, evolutionary relationships, and morphofunctional diversity. Finally, what do thalattosuchians tell us about common evolutionary pathways seen in secondarily aquatic vertebrates?
(2) The air-to-land transition within Columbidae (pigeons and doves). This focuses on the biology of the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) and the Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria). My research includes understanding their skeletal anatomy, locomotory biomechanics, and evolutionary relationships. Finally, what does the Dodo tell us about common evolutionary pathways seen in secondarily flightless birds.
(3) Philosophy of biology. The goal of the sciences is to cumulatively gather descriptive and ultimately causal understanding of objects and events. My research includes ensuring that my work is compatible with the goal of scientific inquiry, and to promote a view of biology and biological research that encapsulates biological theory, applied technological innovation, with a philosophical underpinning.
(4) Promotion of best practice in descriptive biology and zoological nomenclature. Given the current ‘age of extinctions’ we are living through and the dire shortage of trained taxonomists, there is a greater need than ever to ensure that taxonomic and descriptive research meets best practice and is compatible with the goal of scientific inquiry.
I am an ICZN Commissioner, a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, and a member of the Royal Society of Biology (RSB). I have Chartered Biologist status, registered with the RSB. I am a member of two IUCN Species Survival Commission groups: the Crocodile Specialist Group, and the Pigeon & Dove Specialist Group. I am the editor-in-chief of Historical Biology, and also an academic editor for PeerJ and PeerJ Open Advances in Zoology.
Dagmara Żyła
I am a Coleoptera Curator and a Head of Coleoptera Section at the Museum of Nature Hamburg. I work on phylogenomics, systematics, and evolution of rove beetles (Staphylinidae).