Stephen Palumbi

Stanford University
Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, CA
http://www.stanford.edu/group/Palumbi/PeoplePages/Steve.html

Dr. Stephen Palumbi is a research scientist at the Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California. He received his Ph.D. from University of Washington in marine ecology.

His research group engages in the study of the genetics, evolution, conservation, population biology and systematics of a diverse array of marine organisms. Dr. Palumbi's own research interests are similarly widespread, and he has published on the genetics and evolution of sea urchins, whales, cone snails, corals, sharks, spiders, shrimps, bryozoans, and butterflyfishes. A primary focus is the use of molecular genetic techniques in conservation, including the identification of whale and dolphin products available in commercial markets. Current conservation work centers on the genetics of marine reserves designed for conservation and fisheries enhancement, with projects in the Philipppines, Bahamas and western US coast. In addition, basic work on the molecular evolution of reproductive isolation and its influence on patterns of speciation uses marine model systems such as sea urchins. This work is expanding our view of the evolution of gamete morphology and the genes involved.

Dr. Palumbi's recent book, The Evolution Explosion: How humans cause rapid evolutionary change, shows how rapid evolution is central to emerging problems in modern society. In January 2003, Steve appeared in the TV series, The Future is Wild, an computer-animated exploration of the possible courses of evolution in the next few hundred million years.