Nathan Upham

Assistant Professor,

School of Life Sciences

Other ASU affiliations

Evolutionary Biology (PhD) program

Senior Global Futures Scientist, Global Futures Scientists and Scholars

Walton Center for Planetary Health 777 E University Dr Tempe, AZ 85281
Mail code: 4501

Campus: Tempe
‌

Long Bio

Nate Upham is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist with core interests in how species-species, species-environment, and species-pathogen interactions have evolved through time and across the tree of life. He studies wild mammals, especially desert rodents, to ask how new species are formed (speciation), how they die out (extinction), and how they interact to share pathogens (disease ecology) and generate biodiversity (ecological diversification). He integrates approaches in field mammalogy, paleontology, phylogenomics, and bioinformatics to query the ecological origins of evolutionary dynamics in the mammal tree of life.

Upham received his doctorate from The University of Chicago’s Committee on Evolutionary Biology in 2014, studying the molecular and fossil relationships of Neotropical caviomorph rodents. He then did a short postdoc at McMaster University studying the largest mammalian genome (Tympanoctomys vizcacha rats in Argentina). In 2015, he moved to Yale University as a postdoc on the VertLife Terrestrial project where he led construction of a comprehensive new tree of life for ~6,000 species of mammals. In 2020, he joined the Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center (BioKIC) in ASU's School of Life Sciences as an assistant research professor. In 2022, he was hired to a tenure-track position as an assistant professor in SOLS, with lab space in the newly constructed Walton Center for Planetary Health. He is funded by the National Institutes of Health (previous R21, current R35) to study the evidence underlying mammal-to-virus interactions globally, and has initiated work on rodent and viral population genomics in Arizona's Madrean sky island region.

As a faculty member, Upham has promoted opportunities to underrepresented students in his own lab, and by assisting with ASU's Biocollections Scholar Program (2021-2022) and the March Mammal Madness competition (Genetics Team, 2022-present). Prior to coming to ASU, he was a mentor in Chicago Public Schools and performed outreach to K-12 students at the Field Museum and in the communities surrounding McMaster and Yale Universities to help open doors to organismal biology careers.

Education

Ph.D. Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. 2014
M.S. Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, 2010
M.A. Biology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA., 2008
B.A. Biology , Occidental College, 2006

Curriculum Vitae

Images

Mammal tree of life

Mammal Diversity Database

Host-pathogen knowledge graphs

Research Website URL

https://n8u.org/

Google Scholar URL

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=zIn4NoUAAAAJ&view_op=list_works…

Research Interests

I study evolution, ecology, and biodiversity from a spatial and temporal perspective, integrating data from molecules (DNA), fossils, and species traits to investigate when and where groups of species originated, at what evolutionary rates, and in relation to which paleo-environmental factors. My research is centered on mammalian evolution and has focused on unique lineages of rats and mice in the tropical Americas (spiny rats, hutias, and relatives), deserts of North and South America (kangaroo mice and vizcacha rats), and most recently across global Mammalia.

Through fieldwork and genomic and phylogenetic approaches, I ask questions that aim to uncover core dynamics of the eco-evolutionary process at biogeographic and population genetic scales. I also seek to translate our findings to wide audiences through diversity & inclusion efforts and by teaching courses, always with the aim to encourage biodiversity conservation in the tropical and arid ecosystems where I work.

Publications

*first or co-first author, ^senior/corresponding author (if meets either criterion: number bold)

Preprints / In Review / Revision

^Rowsey, D.M., Smith, S.M., Zamora Chavez, L.J., Rivera, D.C., Hess, S.C., Jones, M.F., Bucci, M.E., Mohammadian, S., Alston, J.M., Baez, J.R., Vargas, K.L., ^Upham, N.S. A holistic survey of small mammal diversity across an iconic Madrean Sky Island (Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona, USA). bioRxiv [preprint]. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.15.711934. In review at J Mammalogy. Data/code: https://github.com/rowseydm/sc_mamm_survey

Rivera, D.C. and ^Upham, N.S. Uncovering historical small mammal biodiversity among the Madrean Sky Islands. bioRxiv [preprint] https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.04.674278. In review at Journal of Mammalogy. Data/code: https://github.com/uphamLab/RiveraUpham_madreanSmallMammals/

*^Upham, N.S., Esselstyn, J. A., and Jetz, W. Ecological causes of mammal diversity. bioRxiv [preprint]. https://doi.org/10.1101/504803. In revision at Evolution.

*^Stewart, T.A., Yoo, I., and *^Upham, N.S. The coevolution of mammae number and litter size. bioRxiv [preprint]. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.08.331983 In revision at Proc Roy Soc B.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

52. Hafner, J.C., Upham, N.S., Gowen-Huang, F., and Light, J.E. (2025). Cryptic species and taxonomic revision of kangaroo mice, the rodent genus Microdipodops. Journal of Mammalogy, 106(6), 1342–1371. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaf070

51. McLean, B.S., Bloom, D., Davis, E.B., Guralnick, R.P., Santana, S.E., Allen, J.M., Amarilla-Stevens, H., Bell, K.C., Blackburn, D.C., Bradley, J.E., Bradley, R.D., Carling, M.D., Coconis, A., Colella, J.P., Conroy, C.J., Cook, J.A., de Bastos Cruz Machado, H., Demboski, J.R., Derieg, K.M., Doll, A., Dumbacher, J.P., Duncan, W.D., Dunnum, J.L., Feldman, C., Ferguson, A.W., Fitzgerald, K.E., Flannery, M.E., Hood, K., Hornsby, A.D., Krejsa, D., LaFrance, R., Light, J.E., Pavan, S.E., Peterson, S., Raniszewski, A., Rickart, E.A., Robson, S., Rowe, R.J., Rowsey, D.M., Semerdjian, A., Stankowich, T., Steger, L., Stevens, R., Thibault, K.M., Thompson, C.W., Upham, N.S., Wilkins, A., and Wommack, E.A. (2025). Extending mammal specimens with their essential phenotypic traits. Journal of Mammalogy, gyaf062. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaf062

50. Burgin, C.J., Zijlstra, J., Becker, M., Handika, H., Widness, J., Alston, J.M., Liphardt, S., Huckaby, D.G., and ^Upham, N.S. (2025). How many species of mammals are there now? Updates and trends in taxonomic, nomenclatural, and geographic knowledge. Journal of Mammalogy, 106(5), 1082–1117. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaf047 | Media: Arizona Horizons PBS interview; A-Z-Animals; KCRA Sacramento; ASU News

49. Paul, D. L., Thompson, C. W., Arroyo, L., Nuñez, G. B., Castro-Arellano, I., Colella, J. P., Cook, J. A., Cove, M. V., Dearborn, J., de la Sancha, N. U., Derieg, K., Dunnum, J. L., Ferguson, A. W., Fitzgerald, K., Foat, C., Frank, L. E., Galbreath, K., Gonzalez, D. F., Hawkins, R. K., Herrera, T., Hey, A., Hope, A. G., Hornsby, A. D., Ibanez IV, D., Keller, O., Krejsa, D., Mahoney, K., Malaney, J., McDonough, M. M., McElrath, T. C., Mathis, V., Mayfield-Meyer, T., Mosley, I., Ordóñez-Garza, N., Phelps, K., Platt II, R. N., Pletcher, J., Rinsland, H. H., Rupprecht, C. E., Speer, K. A., Steger, L., Upham, N.S., White III, R. A., Wiens, B. J., Wooten, L. and Soltis, P. S. (2025). Harnessing natural history collections for collaborative pandemic preparedness. BioScience, biaf035. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf035

48. Finkbeiner, A., Khatib, A., Upham, N.S., & Sterner, B. (2025). A systematic review of the distribution and prevalence of viruses detected in the Peromyscus maniculatus species complex (Rodentia: Cricetidae). PLOS Pathogens, 21(6), e1013125. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013125

47. Afonso Silva, A.C., Maliet, O., Aristide, L., Nogués-Bravo, D., Upham, N.S., Jetz, W., Morlon, H. (2025). Negative global-scale association between genetic diversity and speciation rates in mammals. Nature Communications, 16(1), 1796. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56820-y

46. *Hernández Hernández, N.A., ^*Robles Fernández, A.L., and ^Upham, N.S. (2025). Environmental suitability throughout the late Quaternary explains population genetic diversity. Ecography, (3), e07202.https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.07202

45. Bjornson, S., Verbruggen, H., ^Upham, N.S., and ^Steenwyk, J. (2024). Reticulate Evolution: Detection and Utility in the Phylogenomics Era. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108197

44. Moura, M.R., Ceron, K., Guedes, J.J.M., Chen-Zhao, R., Sica, Y.V., Hart, J., Dorman, W., Gonzalez-del-Pliego, P., Ranipeta, A., Catenazzi, A.., Werneck, F.P., Toledo, L.F., Upham, N.S., Tonini, J.F.R., Colston, T.J., Guralnick, R., Bowie, R.C.K., Pyron, R.A., Jetz, W. (2024). A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLOS Biology, 22(7), e3002658. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002658. Data and code: Zenodo

43. Marsh, C.J., Sica, Y.V., ^Upham, N.S., & ^Jetz, W. (2024). Response to Arbogast and Kerhoulas [re Marsh et al. 2022]. Journal of Mammalogy, gyae019. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyae019

42. Lund, M.C., Larsen, B.B., Rowsey, D.M., Otto, H.W., Gryseels, S., Kraberger, S., Custer, J.M., Steger, L., Yule, K.M., Harris, R.E., Worobey, M., Doorslaer, K.V., Upham, N.S., & Varsani, A. (2023). Using archived and biocollection samples towards deciphering the DNA virus diversity associated with rodent species in the families Cricetidae and Heteromyidae. Virology. 585, 42–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2023.05.006

41. Alshawi, R.R., Sen, A., Upham, N.S., and Sterner, B. (2023). A Novel Dataset Towards Extracting Virus-Host Interactions. In: Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Information Extraction from Scientific Publications, edited by T. Ghosal, F. Grezes, T. Allen, K. Lockhart, A. Accomazzi, and S. Blanco-Cuaresma, 37–42. Bali, Indonesia: Assoc for Computational Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2023.wiesp-1.5.

40. Harding, C., Larsen, B. B., Otto, H. W., Potticary, A. L., Kraberger, S., Custer, J. M., Suazo, C., Upham, N. S., Worobey, M., Van Doorslaer, K., & Varsani, A. (2023). Diverse DNA virus genomes identified in fecal samples of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) captured in Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona (USA). Virology, 580, 98–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2023.02.004

39. Michielsen, N. M., Goodman, S. M., Soarimalala, V., Geer, A. A. E. van der, Dávalos, L. M., Saville, G. I., Upham, N.S., & Valente, L. (2023). The macroevolutionary impact of recent and imminent mammal extinctions on Madagascar. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35215-3. Press: Over 200 news stories, including The Guardian, IFLscience.

38. Harding, C., Larsen, B.B., Gryseels, S., Otto, H.W., Suazo, C., Kraberger, S., Upham, N.S., Worobey, M., Van Doorslaer, K., Varsani, A. (2022). Discovery of three cycloviruses in fecal samples from silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) in Arizona (USA). Archives of Virology. doi: 10.1007/s00705-022-05574-9

37. Balk M.A., Deck J., Emery K.F., Walls R.L., Reuter D., LaFrance R., Arroyo-Cabrales J., Barrett P., Blois J., Boileau A., Brenskelle L., Cannarozzi N.R., Cruz J.A., Dávalos L.M., de la Sancha N.U., Gyawali P., Hantak M.M., Hopkins S., Kohli B., King J.N., Koo M.S., Lawing A.M., Machado H., McCrane S.M., McLean B., Morgan M.E., Pilaar Birch S., Reed D., Reitz E.J., Sewnath N., Upham N.S., Villaseñor A., Yohe L., Davis E.B., Guralnick R.P. (2022). A solution to the challenges of interdisciplinary aggregation and use of specimen-level trait data. iScience, 105101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105101

36. Abraham, J., Upham, N.S., Serrano, A.D., Jesmer, B. (2022). Evolutionary causes and consequences of ungulate migration. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01749-4. Data: Dryad. Press: News & Views, NPR Phoenix (KJZZ).

35. Marsh, C.J., Sica, Y.V., Burgin, C.J., Dorman, W.A.…[142 other authors]…, ^Upham, N.S., ^Jetz, W. (2022). Expert range maps of global mammal distributions harmonised to three taxonomic authorities. Journal of Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14330

34. Munstermann M.J., Heim N.A., McCauley D.J., Payne J.L., Upham N.S., Wang S.C., Knope M.L. (2022). A global ecological signal of extinction risk in terrestrial vertebrates. Conservation Biology. 36:3 e13852. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13852

33. *^Upham N.S., Poelen J.H., Paul D., Groom Q.J., Simmons N.B., Vanhove M.P.M., Bertolino S., Reeder D.M., Bastos-Silveira C., Sen A., Sterner B., Franz N.M., Guidoti M., Penev L., Agosti D. (2021). Liberating host–virus knowledge from biological dark data. The Lancet Planetary Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00196-0. Press: ASU News

32. *^Upham N.S., Esselstyn J.A., ^Jetz W. (2021). Molecules and fossils tell distinct yet complementary stories of mammal diversification. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.012. Data: Github.

31. Greenberg D.A., Pyron R.A., Johnson L.G.W., Upham N.S., Jetz W., Mooers A.Ø. (2021). Evolutionary legacies in contemporary tetrapod imperilment. Ecology Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13868

30. Groom Q., Adriaens T., Bertolino S., Phelps K., Poelen J., Reeder D., Richardson D., Simmons N., and Upham N.S. (2021). Holistic understanding of contemporary ecosystems requires integration of data on domesticated, captive and cultivated organisms. Biodiversity Data Journal. 9:e65371. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.9.e65371

29. ^Sen, A., ^Sterner, B., ^Franz, N., ^Powel, C., and ^Upham, N.S. (2021). Combining Machine Learning & Reasoning for Biodiversity Data Intelligence. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 35: 14911-14919. https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AAAI/article/view/17750

28. Turvey, S.T., Duncan, C., Upham, N.S., Harrison, X., Dávalos, L.M. (2021). Where the wild things were: intrinsic and extrinsic extinction predictors in the world’s most depleted mammal fauna. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288: 20202905. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2905

27. Cisse O.H., Ma L., Dekker J.P., Khil P.P., Youn J.-H., Brenchley J.M., Blair R.V., Pahar B., Chabe M., Rompay K.K.A.V., Keesler R., Sukura A., Hirsch V., Kutty G., Liu Y., Peng L., Chen J., Song J., Weissenbacher-Lang C., Upham N.S., Stajich J.E., Cuomo C.A., Cushion M.T., Kovacs J.A. (2021). Genomic insights into the host specific adaptation of the Pneumocystis genus and emergence of the human pathogen Pneumocystis jirovecii. Communications Biology 4: 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01799-7

26. Sterner B., Elliott S., Upham N.S., Franz N.M. (2021). Bats, objectivity, and viral spillover risk. History & Philosophy of the Life Sciences 43:7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-021-00366-x

25. ^Burgin, C. J., Widness, J., and ^Upham, N. S. (2020). Introduction. Pp. 23-40 In: Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World (C. J. Burgin, D. E. Wilson, R. A. Mittermeier, A. B. Rylands, T. E. Lacher, and W. Sechrest, eds.). Lynx Ediciones, Barcelona.

24. Alhajeri, B. H., Fourcade, Y., Upham, N. S., and Alhaddad, H. (2020). A global test of Allen’s rule in rodents. Global Ecology and Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13198

23. Cook, J.A., Arai, S., Armién, B., Bates, J., Carrion Bonilla, C.A., de Souza Cortez, M.B., Dunnum, J.L., Ferguson, A.W., Anwarali Khan, F.A., Paul, D.L., Reeder, D.M., Simmons, N.B., Thiers, B.M., Thompson, C.W., Upham, N.S., Vanhove, M.P.M., Webala, P.W., Weksler, M., Yanagihara, R., Soltis, P.S. (2020). Integrating biodiversity infrastructure into pathogen discovery and mitigation of epidemic infectious diseases. BioScience https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa064. Press: The Conversation.

22. *^Upham N.S., Esselstyn J.A., ^Jetz, W. (2019). Inferring the mammal tree: species-level sets of phylogenies for questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation. PLOS Biology. 17(12): e3000494. Cover art. Data: Github, Dryad. Press: Cosmos, ScienceDaily, Phys.org, Twitter.

...

(full publications listed here)

Teaching Website URL

https://n8u.org/teaching/

Courses

2026 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 499	Individualized Instruction

2025 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research
BIO 494	Special Topics
BIO 549	Phylogenetic Biology&Analysis

2025 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 499	Individualized Instruction

2024 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research

2024 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 499	Individualized Instruction

2023 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research
BIO 498	Pro-Seminar
BIO 598	Special Topics

2023 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research

2022 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research

2022 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research

2021 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research

2021 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 495	Undergraduate Research
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution
BIO 345	Evolution

Presentations

Invited seminars

2026. University of California Berkeley, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, student invited speaker: Symbiotic interactions and mammal evolution across scales

2026. University of Michigan, Dept of Ecology & Evol Biology: Querying the mammalverse of species interactions

2025. Rodent 2K Genome Initiative, monthly online meeting: Why taxonomy matters for (rodent) genomic analyses

2025. Arizona State University, Institutional Biosafety Committee, Field Research seminars: Querying the mammalverse from global to local scales

2024. University of California, Riverside, Department of Biology Seminar Series: Querying the mammalverse of genomes, ecologies, and species

2023. Proxima Symposium, Iniciativa Proxima Brazilian Foundation, Porto Alegre, Brazil [declined]

2023. University of South Florida, Integrative Biology Seminar Series: Mammal-centric spillover risk modeling: species meaning and ecological context are key

2022. EcoHealth Alliance, EHA Seminar Series: Mammal-centric spillover risk modeling: species meaning and ecological context are key

2022. Swiss Institute for Bioinformatics, SIB Literature Serves group (SIBiLS): Developing a system to predict emerging infectious diseases

2022. Arizona State University, Molecular and Cellular Biology Seminar Series: Evolution of the Largest Mammalian Genome — and other tails/tales.

2022. Museums and Pathogens in the Americas (MEPA): Pathogen spillover from wild mammals to humans: taxonomic and ecological data curation are the key to accurate risk modeling.

2022. University of Oslo, Natural History Museum: Mammal species, evolution, and ecology.

2022. Angelo State University, Department of Biology: Ecology, pathogens, and the mammal tree of life.

2021. Argentine Mammal Society (Jornadas Argentinas de Mastozoología), main talk for the e-JAM.21 event: Mammal species, ecology, and turnover.

2021. McMaster University, Department of Biology: Mammal species, ecology, and turnover.

2021. Brazilian Mammal Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Mastozoologia), keynote for the MOCÓ event: Mammal species, ecology, and turnover.

2021. University of Colorado at Denver, Department of Integrative Biology: Mammal evolutionary past as a key to the ecology of present-day species.

2021. University of Memphis, Department of Biological Sciences, Annual Graduate Student Invited Seminar (BioGSA): Mammal evolutionary past as a key to connecting the ecological present.

2021. Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, New Faculty Seminar series: Mammal evolutionary past as a key to the ecological present.

2020. TDWG 2020 Virtual Conference. Symposium on “Using Collections to Mitigate and Prevent Zoonotic Disease”: Liberating host-virus data from COVID-19 lockdown.

2020. CETAF-DiSCCo Covid-19 Taskforce public event. Biodiversity knowledge hub for Covid-19 and preventing future pandemics. Link to YouTube-streamed talk (10 minutes).

2020. Yale University, Lab of Ruslan Medzhitov. Mammalian tree of life as an essential tool for comparative biology.

2020. Yale University, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS) seminar series. Ecological causes of uneven mammalian diversity.

2019. Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Ecologia. Ecological causes of birth and death in the mammal tree of life.

2019. Yale-CAPES Seminars in Biomedical Sciences, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Mammalian tree of life as an essential tool for comparative biology.

2019. University of Rutgers Newark, Biological Sciences. Ecological causes of speciation and species richness in the mammal tree of life.

2019. Western Connecticut State University, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Why are there so many rodents? And other (r)evolutionary questions.

2019. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History. Uniting micro- and macro-evolution in the Mammalia tree of life.

2019. Field Museum of Natural History, A. Watson Armour seminar series. Ecology unites micro- and macro-evolution in the mammal tree of life.

2019. Portland State University, Department of Biology seminar series. Mammalian tree of life and the inverse latitudinal gradient of speciation rates.

2019. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Research & Collections seminar series. Mammalian tree of life from ancient lineages to modern backyards.

2019. Columbia University, E3B Department seminar series. The ecology of species diversification in the mammal tree of life.

Professional Associations

Current Positions

2016-present. Chair, Biodiversity Committee, American Society of Mammalogists.

2023-present. Chair, Ad hoc Digital Publications Committee, American Society of Mammalogists.

2024-present. Deputy Chair for Systematics and Taxonomy, IUCN SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group.

2017-2024. Taxonomy Advisor, IUCN SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group.

2021-present. Member, Global Bat Taxonomy Working Group of the IUCN SSC Bat Specialist Group.

2024-present. Co-Chair, Bat Eco-Interactions Working Group (within the Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks)

Invited Working Groups

2020-present. Bat Eco-Interactions Working Group (part of the Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks, GBatNet), consisting of weekly meetings of biodiversity collections-oriented scientists in the US, Europe, and South America working to liberate bat-related ecological data. Developed from the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities-Distributed System of Scientific Collections (CETAF-DiSSCo) COVID-19 Taskforce.

2020-present. Museums and Emerging Pathogens in the Americas (MEPA), group of researchers, policy makers, and advanced students from 9 countries in Central, North, and South America.

2018-present. North American Rodents Landscapes Ecology & Evolution (NARLEE) Working Group, adding rodent evolution expertise to 30-person RCN of geologists, modelers, biologists.

2020. ViralMuse Taskforce, group for multi-disciplinary conversation about linking natural history collections with public health efforts, especially regarding host-pathogen relationships.

2017. State of the Tree of Life (SoToL) Working Group, invited to represent Mammalia in 40-person group spanning microbes, sponges, fungi, plants, and animals.

Society Memberships and Service

American Society of Mammalogists, ASM (2005-present)

Board of Directors (2014-2017)

Conservation Committee (2012-present)

Biodiversity Committee (2016-present)

Systematic Collections Committee (2011-present)

American Society of Naturalists (2013-present)

American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS (2006-2010, 2017-present)

Society of Systematic Biologists, SSB (2009-2011, 2013, 2017-present)

Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution (2014-2015)

European Society for Evolutionary Biology (2013)

Sociedad Argentina para el Estudio de los Mamíferos, SAREM (2012-2014)

Sociedade Brasileira de Mastozoologia, SBMz (2012-2013)

Graduate Faculties / Mentoring History

Primary Graduate Advisor

Ryan Nguyen (2025-present), MS in Biology program.
- Project: Phylogeny of global Rodentia; rodent-virus interactions.
Julia Nitschmann (2025-present), Evolutionary Biology PhD program.
- Project: Gene flow relative to dispersal ability among Madrean Sky Island small mammals.
Morgan Pierce (2023-present; co-advised with Sharon Hall), MS in Biology program.
- Project: Gene flow in metro Phoenix urban rodents. Awards: 2024 Summer Fellowship from the Central Arizona-Phoenix LTER; 2025 Grant-in-Aid from the American Society of Mammalogists.
Luisa Zamora Chavez (2023-present), MS in Biology program.
- Project: Valley Fever and other fungi in the lungs of Arizona desert rodents. Awards: 2023-2026 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship; 2026 Student Engagement Program Fellow to attend the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) conference in Boise, ID.
Gilma De Leon (2022-present), 4+1 MS in Biology program.
- Project: Diet and microbiome diversity of Neotoma woodrats in the Madrean Sky Islands. Awards: Honorable Mention Award in Ecology and Conservation, 2023 SOLS Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Damien Rivera (2022-present), Evolutionary Biology PhD program.
- Project: Biodiversity and gene flow of Madrean Sky Island small mammals. Awards: 2024 and 2025 Grant-in-Aid from the American Society of Mammalogists.
Dr. Ángel Luis Robles Fernández (2021-2025; co-advised w/ Nico Franz), Evolutionary Biology PhD program.
- Doctoral Thesis: “Ecointeraction: A Machine Learning Framework to Predict Host-Parasite Interactions Through Ecological and Evolutionary Covariates”. Awards: Recipient of the 2021 Edward and Linda Birge Travel Award, School of Life Sciences; 2nd place in the 2022 GBIF Ebbe Nielsen Challenge; 2023 Grant-in-Aid Award from the American Society of Mammalogists.

Undergraduate Directed Research Advisor

Michael Rivers (2025-present). Project: Digitizing specimen tag data of small mammals.
Olivia Tureki (2025-present). Project: Molecular biology of wild rodent hosts and symbionts.
Alexander Fenlon (2025-present). Project: Phylogenomics of high-elevation deer mice (Peromyscus) in Arizona. Awards: 2025 Undergraduate Honorarium from the American Society of Mammalogists
Nicole Veeder (2021-2022). Project: Mammal-virus interactions in public data.
Reane Kaur (2022). Project: Mammal-virus interactions in public data.

Postdoctoral Researcher / Consultant Advisor

Dr. Jonathan Hughes (2025-present). Project: Genome evolution of desert rodents and their viruses.

Postbaccalaureate / Staff Research Advisor

Jessica Neumaier (2024-present). Project: Elevational gradient of wild rodent-virus interactions.
Alexandra Dubé (2024-2025). Project: Rodent-virus interactions in fecal and liver tissue.
Norma Alicia Hernández-Hernández (2023-2024). Project: Geographic range maps of global mammals.
Justin Baez (2022-2024; now PhD student at University Chicago, Committee on Evolutionary Biology). Projects: Population genomics of Tassel-earred Squirrels (Sciurus aberti); Rates of bat species diversification from the Eocene-Oligocene fossil record; Description of new Eocene bat species from the Powder Wash Formation (co-supervisor with Matt Jones). Awards: Honorable Mention in the 2024 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship competition.