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faculty
Kathryn Kavanagh, PhD
Associate Professor
Biology
Contact
508-999-8248
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Liberal Arts 385
Education
| 1998 | James Cook University of North Queensland | PhD in Biology |
| 1992 | College of William and Mary | MA in Marine Science |
Teaching
- Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
- Evolutionary Developmental Biology
- Embryology
- Coral Reef Biology
Teaching
Programs
Programs
Teaching
Courses
Structure and phylogeny of vertebrates. Laboratory work illustrates evolutionary trends and specializations.
Structure and phylogeny of vertebrates. Laboratory work illustrates evolutionary trends and specializations.
One to four hours in varied formats Selected topics in Biology. In recent years these have included physiology and biochemistry of marine animals, evolutionary ecology, biology of marine mammals, morphometrics and phylogenetic systematics, and extremophiles.
One to four hours in varied formats Selected topics in Biology. In recent years these have included physiology and biochemistry of marine animals, evolutionary ecology, biology of marine mammals, morphometrics and phylogenetic systematics, and extremophiles.
Research
Research activities
- Adaptive plasticity in thoracic and limb regions in birds and mammals
- Co-evolution of morphological and life history traits in damselfishes
Research
Research awards
- $ 599,926 awarded by National Science Foundation for Connecting Undergraduates to Biodiversity Instruction through Citizen Science (CUBICS)
- $ 231,083 awarded by Office of Naval Research for UMassD MUST IV: Humpback Whale Behaviors in Relation to Human Activities and Structures on Stellwagon Bank
Research
Research interests
- Developmental bias and plasticity in evolution
- Vertebrate skeletal development and evolution
- Evolution of larval-brooding damselfishes
Select publications
- Kavanagh, K.D. (2019).
Developmental plasticity associated with early structural integration and evolutionary patterns: examples of developmental bias and developmental facilitation in the skeletal system.
Evolution & Development - Young, N.M., Takkellapati, S., Winslow, B., Kavanagh, K.D. (2015).
Shared rules of development predict patterns of evolution in segmentation.
Nature Communications, 6, 6690. - Kavanagh, K.D., Evans, A.E., Jernvall, J. (2007).
Predicting evolutionary patterns of mammalian teeth from development.
Nature, 449, 427-432.