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Kathryn Kavanagh

faculty

Kathryn Kavanagh, PhD

Associate Professor

Biology

Kavanagh Research Lab

Contact

508-999-8248

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Liberal Arts 385

Education

1998James Cook University of North QueenslandPhD in Biology
1992College of William and MaryMA in Marine Science

Teaching

  • Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
  • Evolutionary Developmental Biology
  • Embryology
  • Coral Reef Biology

Teaching

Programs

Teaching

Courses

Students with senior standing (or others with consent of the instructor) report on and discuss current biological problems as presented in principle journals, abstracts and reviews. The work of each seminar is usually built upon a single unifying content area.

An overview of contemporary evolutionary biology with an emphasis on evolutionary processes. A non-introductory study of the interplay in time and space of genetic variety, ecological opportunity, and chance resulting in the evolutionary change in groups of organisms.

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.

An overview of contemporary evolutionary biology with an emphasis on evolutionary processes. A non-introductory study of the interplay in time and space of genetic variety, ecological opportunity, and chance resulting in the evolutionary change in groups of organisms.

Investigations of a fundamental and/or applied nature culminating in an original contribution to the scholarly research literature of Integrative Biology. Doctoral research contributes to the student's dissertation and should be presented at major conferences and ultimately published in refereed journals. A written dissertation must be completed and defended in accordance with the rules of the Graduate School and the Integrative Biology PhD Program.

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.
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