author
Robert K. Selander
A pioneering evolutionary biologist, this scientist helped change how researchers study genetic variation in animals and microbes. His work ranged widely, from bird behavior to the molecular evolution of bacterial pathogens.
1 Audiobook
Vertebrates from the Barrier Island of Tamaulipas, México
by Robert K. Selander, Richard F. Johnston, Gerald G. Raun, B. J. Wilks
About the author
Born in Garfield, Utah, in 1927, Robert K. Selander became an influential American evolutionary biologist and later emeritus professor at Pennsylvania State University. He studied at the University of Utah and earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1956.
Over the course of his career, he built a reputation for moving boldly across fields, contributing to the study of bird behavior, population genetics, and the evolution of microbial pathogens. He was especially known for work that brought molecular methods into evolutionary biology and helped deepen understanding of genetic variation in natural populations.
His achievements were widely recognized, including election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1982. Selander died in 2015, leaving behind a body of research that continued to shape evolutionary biology and genetics.