David Mindell


David P. Mindell is an American evolutionary biologist and author. He is currently a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Mindell's work is focused on the systematics, conservation and molecular evolution of birds, especially birds of prey. He is known for his 2006 book, The Evolving World in which he explained, for the general public, how evolution applies to everyday life.
From 1994 to 2008 Mindell was Professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and Curator of birds at the University of Michigan. He served as Dean of Science and Harry & Diana Hind Chair at the California Academy of Sciences between 2008 and 2011, and was Program Director in the Division of Environmental Biology at the US National Science Foundation during 2012 to 2016.

Biography

Mindell was born in Buffalo, New York, where he attended Nichols School. He received a B.S. degree from Prescott College in 1975, and a Ph.D. degree from Brigham Young University in 1986. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University between 1987 and 1989, after which he joined the University of Cincinnati as an assistant professor.
In 1994, Mindell joined the University of Michigan where he taught evolutionary biology and served as professor and curator of birds. In 1998, he was appointed as the director of Genomic Diversity Laboratory at the Museum of Zoology, and in 2003, he was appointed the director of Museum of Zoology. In 2006, he was awarded the Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University, where he conducted research on variable rates of evolutionary change across genes and organisms.
He was elected to serve as the president of Society of Systematic Biology in 2011.

Research

Mindell’s research focuses on evolutionary biology, and specifically the evolution and molecular systematics of birds. He has conducted comprehensive analyses of the systematics of diurnal birds of prey in the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Cathartiformes. His work, funded by both U.S. National Science Foundation and The Peregrine Fund, includes assessment of the genetic distinctiveness and diversity of many poorly known groups of diurnal raptors, and resolution of taxonomic uncertainties.

Awards and honors

Selected articles