Scott V. Edwards facts for kids

Scott Vernon Edwards is a leading scientist at Harvard University. He is a professor of Evolutionary Biology, which means he studies how living things change over long periods. He also works as the Curator of Ornithology (the study of birds) at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. This means he helps take care of the museum's large collection of birds.

Early Life and School

Scott Edwards was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He grew up in the Bronx in New York City. When he was young, he worked at a local garden called Wave Hill.

He went to Harvard University for his first college degree. In 1986, he earned his bachelor's degree in biology. Later, he got his Ph.D. (a very high science degree) in zoology (the study of animals) from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992. After that, he spent two years doing more research at the University of Florida. There, he studied how genes change in wild bird populations.

His Career

In 1994, Dr. Edwards became a professor at the University of Washington. He also worked as a curator at the Burke Museum. A curator is someone who manages a collection, like museum exhibits.

In 2003, he moved back to Harvard University. He joined the Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology. He also became the Curator of Ornithology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. From 2013 to 2015, he held an important role at the National Science Foundation. This organization helps fund scientific research in the United States.

Dr. Edwards has been recognized for his important work. He was chosen as a fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union in 2006. He also became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2009. In 2015, he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences. This is a very high honor for scientists in the U.S. He was also elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2020.

He believes that early guidance helped him find his passion for science. He actively works to help more people from different backgrounds get into science. He especially helps college students get research experience.

What He Researches

Dr. Edwards's research mainly focuses on the molecular evolution of birds. This means he studies how the genes of birds have changed over time.

His team has published many papers about how birds evolved from dinosaurs. For example, they found genetic proof that genes for feathers appeared much earlier than modern birds. This supports the idea that some dinosaurs had feathers too! His group also found that dinosaurs had small genomes (all the genetic material in an organism), similar to modern birds.

Dr. Edwards has also pushed for new ways to study bird family trees (phylogenomics). He wants scientists to use new DNA sequencing tools. He also suggests using special models that help understand how different bird groups are related.

His group was part of a big project called the Avian Phylogenomics Consortium. In 2014, this group published many papers about bird evolution. His lab is now involved in the Earth BioGenome Project. This huge project aims to map the DNA of all living things on Earth.

Dr. Edwards has also written about how important natural history collections are for students. He helped create a program called AIM-UP. This program uses museum collections to teach college students. He also helped publish a book with rare early drawings by John Audubon, a famous artist who drew birds.