Advisory Board and Editors Zoology
Ingrid M Weiss
Professor for Biobased Materials at IBBS - Institute of Biomaterials and Biomolecular Systems, University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Past Head of Biomineralization at INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken, Germany and Private Lecturer "Biochemistry" at the University of Regensburg, Germany.
Kenneth C Welch Jr.
Associate Professor of Comparative Vertebrate Physiology at the University of Toronto Scarborough; Associate Chair of Research and Graduate Affairs, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough; Chair-Elect of the Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry of The Society for Integrative Biology.
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.
Sau Pinn Woo
Dr Woo received his PhD in Natural History Sciences from Hokkaido University. His interest of study includes systematics, taxonomy, and diversity study of marine invertebrates, focusing on the group Echinoderms. Since 2009, he has been actively uncovering the marine biodiversity and systematics of sea cucumbers across the region.
He is currently serving as a senior lecturer in the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia where he is also actively leading several marine biodiversity research in the Southeast Asian region that includes several taxa of marine invertebrate. At the global front, he is a serving in several UN Decade of Ocean Science Program ECOP co-chairs and also an active contributor to the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) programmes. At the same time, he is passionate in creating awareness and education of marine sciences to the society through various educational programmes done in CEMACS with the concept of experiential learning for marine sciences
Sercan Yapıcı
Sercan Yapıcı completed his PhD in 2017 with a thesis entitled "Determination of bio-ecological aspects and food interactions of Randall's threadfin bream (Nemipterus randalli) and common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus) in the Gokova Bay”.
He is a researcher at Mugla Sıtkı Koçman University, Faculty of Fisheries since 2010. His main interest topics are non-native species in the Mediterranean Sea; risk analysis on marine bioinvasion.
Önder Yildirim
Dr. Onder Yildirim is a Professor in the Faculty of Fisheries at Muğla Sıtkı Kocman University, Muğla, Turkey. He gained his MSc degree, at Faculty of Marine Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University (KTU) Sürmene Faculty of Marine Science in Trabzon, and his PhD degree at Faculty of Fisheries, Ege University in Izmir. Dr. Yildirim has performed research on fish nutrition subjects for over 25 years.
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.
Lin Zhang
Dr. Lin Zhang is Associate professor within the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China.
His research interests focus on:
1）How ectotherms (with tropical lizard as subject) linking bioenergetics and overwintering strategy during global warming
2）Macro-evolution including activity, metabolism and reproduction in squamate
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).